Motor racing: McLaren Racing chief executive Jost Capito (picture) is set to follow Ron Dennis out of the Formula One team, the BBC reported. McLaren did not comment on the reports and Capito was not immediately available. The 58-year-old former Volkswagen motorsport director, who was recruited by Dennis, was appointed in January but did not start in the role at the Honda-powered team until September. Former team boss Dennis, who remains a 25 per cent shareholder in McLaren, was ousted in November with American marketing expert Zak Brown coming in as the new executive director.
Cricket: Ravindra Jadeja ripped the heart out of England’s batting order to bowl India to a thumping innings and 75-run victory in the fifth and final test yesterday. The left-arm spinner claimed seven of the 10 wickets that tumbled in the final two sessions as India completed an emphatic 4-0 series win. “We understood that once we got a couple of wickets, it’s going to be a downslide pretty quick (for England),” India captain Virat Kohli said. “Jadeja coming and doing the job in both the innings.... hitting the right areas and making it uncomfortable for the batsmen, it was great to watch.”
Horse Racing: German-born jockey Freddy Tylicki has left hospital seven weeks after a fall that left him paralysed from the waist down. “I have been waiting on this day for a long time and it’s finally come!! On the road to the rehab clinic #nextchapter #keepfighting,” the 30-year-old said on Twitter yesterday. Tylicki fell off his horse after a pile-up in a race at Kempton on Oct. 31 and was taken by helicopter to St George’s Hospital in London where he underwent spinal surgery. He spent 15 days in the intensive care unit.
Basketball, NBA: The voting process for the National Basketball Association’s All-Star Game has been expanded to include current players and members of the media, the NBA announced. Since the 1974-75 season, the starters for the mid-season exhibition were selected by fans only but that vote will be reduced to 50 per cent for the 2017 All-Star Game, while players and the media will account for 25 per cent each. Voting for the three frontcourt players and two starting guards in each conference will begin on Sunday, when the NBA will feature five Christmas Day match-ups, and concludes on Jan. 16.
WINTER SPORTS
■ Olympic ski cross bronze medallist Anna Holmlund of Sweden was put in a medically-induced coma after sustaining a head injury in a training accident in Italy, Scandinavian media reported yesterday. According to the Expressen newspaper, the 29-year-old crashed while training in Bolzano ahead of the FIS World Cup competition in Innichen in northern Italy this week. Holmlund, who is second in the World Cup rankings, finished third at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.