Category Sports News

Motorsport Ireland driver Jon Armstrong earned his best result of the European Rally Championship season by finishing third at Rally Poland.

World Rally Championship driver Martins Sesks, from Latvia, won the rally by one minute and six seconds ahead of Poland’s Mikolaj Marczyk, with Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne 9.5 seconds further back in third.

Jos Verstappen, father of reigning Formula 1 champion Max, crashed out of the rally on the final stage.

M-Sport driver Armstrong ended the opening day of running in fourth place, and picked up a position when Roope Korhonen rolled out of second place on the 10th stage.

Armstrong, from Northern Ireland, started to challenge local hero Marczyk for second but incurred a 10-second penalty for clipping a bale at a chicane on the 12th stage.

That proved to be costly as he finished 0.5 seconds in front, but the penalty kept him in third place.

“What a weekend in Poland,” said Armstrong.

“I’m so pleased to have claimed my career-first gravel podium here, put down some good pace and come away with this great result for the team.”

The result, along with four additional bonus points for being second quickest on the final stage, moves Armstrong up to sixth in the championship after four of the eight rounds.

New Manchester City signing Rayan Cherki is relishing the chance to punish rivals Manchester United as revenge for his Europa League pain.

The Frenchman and former club Lyon suffered a dramatic quarter-final exit at Old Trafford in April after losing a 4-2 lead in extra time.

In a dramatic finish to their second-leg tie, United struck three times, including twice in the final minute, to snatch a stunning 5-4 win on the night and 7-6 on aggregate.

Forward Cherki scored in both legs of the tie and videos emerged of him celebrating his thunderous effort at United by grabbing his crotch in front of the home supporters.

The 21-year-old, who joined City from Lyon for an initial fee of £30.45m, laughed when asked about the incident, but confessed he has United in his sights again once the new season starts.

“I [didn’t] like [it] when Manchester United won the game against Lyon because I am a Lyonnais,” said Cherki. “Now I am waiting for the game [to] kill them.

“I’m here to win all the games.”

Cherki was previously linked with a move to Manchester United, but joined Pep Guardiola’s side on a five-year contract.

Described as “one of the greatest technicians in Europe”, he made his senior debut for Lyon at 16 and scored 29 goals and provided 45 assists in 185 games for the club.

Cherki can play as a winger but his preference is a more central number 10 role, and has been viewed as a possible replacement for the inspirational Kevin de Bruyne, who left City for Napoli on a free transfer.

City have also signed Netherlands international Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan as part of a midfield rebuild.

But France international Cherki wants to create his own legacy with Guardiola’s side and spoke of his ambition to win major trophies and the Ballon d’Or like City team-mate Rodri did in 2024.

“I’m not Kevin De Bruyne, he is the legend,” he added. “I’m here to help the team and to write my own story. I hope to win all the time with the team.

“When you see Rodri, he won the Ballon d’Or here – it’s clear that with Manchester City it’s possible and I am here for this.

“When I spoke with Pep, he wanted me – he was very, very clear. Pep told me, ‘when you have the ball, you are free’, which is very good for me because it’s my first quality to help the team.

Cherki joins a City side with a growing Arabic influence after the arrival of Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush in January and left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves this summer.

They join fellow Muslim players, German Ilkay Gundogan and Uzbekistan defender Abdukhodir Khusanov, in the squad for the Fifa Club World Cup in the USA.

Interest in City around the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region has produced a significant spike with a 140m increase in audience reach since Marmoush’s arrival, and shirts bearing the forward’s name have been one of the top sellers, alongside Erling Haaland.

City’s opening Club World Cup game comes against Moroccan side Wydad AC in Philadelphia on Wednesday (kick-off 17:00 BST).

Cherki, who is of Algerian descent, seems to already have struck a bond with France-born Algeria international Ait-Nouri at their training base in Boca Raton in Florida.

The pair were warming up next to each other on Saturday and were in the same group during drills.

Asked about his own £31m move from Wolves, Ait-Nouri said: “It was very good because it’s a dream, one of the best teams in the world, a lot of great players in this team.

Italy have appointed former midfielder Gennaro Gattuso as their manager.

The AC Milan legend replaces Luciano Spalletti, who announced his own sacking at a news conference last week.

Gattuso, 47, made 73 appearances for Italy and was a member of their 2006 World Cup-winning squad, and will now lead his country into the same tournament 20 years later.

Italy won Euro 2020 but failed to qualify for last summer’s tournament, and have also not made it to the past two World Cups.

The Italian football federation (FIGC) confirmed Gattuso will be presented to the media on Thursday.

“Gattuso is a symbol of Italian football,” FIGC President Gabriele Gravina said.

Gattuso’s managerial record is patchy, to say the least.

Since retiring as a player in 2013, Italy will become the 10th team he has managed in just 12 years.

The longest period he has stayed at any club has been two seasons with then third-tier Italian side Pisa, who he tasted the most success with.

After being appointed there in August 2015, he led the side to promotion to Serie B at the first attempt but, after finishing bottom of the second tier the following season, Gattuso resigned.

That was the second time the Italian has resigned from a club, having done the same with Greek side OFI Crete in his previous job.

In May 2021, the Italian agreed to become head coach of Serie A side Fiorentina, effective from 1 July. However, on 17 June, just two weeks before his contract was due to begin, Gattuso and Fiorentina mutually rescinded the agreement.

Former Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica took victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours with a privately entered Ferrari.

The number 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, also driven by China’s Yifei Ye and Britain’s Phil Hanson, took the chequered flag 14.084 seconds ahead of the number six Porsche 963 of France Kevin Estre.

Pole Kubica, once considered one of the world’s best F1 drivers as part of a group of young drivers which included Lewis Hamilton, won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix for BMW-Sauber.

But three years later, as an established F1 driver for Renault, Kubica suffered life-changing injuries in a rallying crash which seriously compromised his right wrist.

The works number 51 Ferrari 499P driven by Antonio Giovinazzi took third place, with the sister 50 car driven by Antonio Fuoco fourth.

Both factory Ferraris, who had been competing for the victory until the final hour, were nursing problems in the final stages.

It is the third victory in a row at Le Mans for the 499P, which won in the top class for the first time in 50 years in 2023 – the 100th anniversary of the famous race.

Kubica, 40, who drove a long final stint, said over team radio: “It’s been a long 24 hours but an enjoyable one – grazie mille, grazie a tutti.”

“Winning Le Mans is special,” he added later to TNT Sports. “It’s been a demanding week – we made everything possible. We kept our heads down when we had to push, and when not we took care of the tyres.

“I’m happy for myself, my team-mates, AF Corse and Ferrari winning three times in row. A better scenario, we could not have.”

The sell-out race, which sees around 300,000 fans gather in north-west France, was a soporific event in 2025, with fewer incidents and accidents between the 62 cars which began the race than usual.

Sportscars have seen a big resurgence in popularity since the introduction of the ‘hypercar’ class in 2021, with many top car manufacturers returning to the grid to benefit from more open designs, controlled by the ‘balance of performance’ rule.

Ferrari, Peugeot, Alpine, Cadillac, Porsche, Aston Martin and BMW have all retuned in recent years, joining Toyota.

Hyundai will join the hypercar class next year – under the Genesis brand – with hypercars from Ford and McLaren arriving in 2027.

In a largely uneventful race, one of the most exciting prospects was the return of Aston Martin in the top hypercar class, with the 007 and 009 Valkyrie.

The V12 6.5 litre machines have wowed fans with their aggressive, high-pitched engine note and bodywork design reminiscent of sportscars in its 1970s heyday.

The lowly finishing position was largely expected by the team, who were happy to see both cars come home after 24 hours of racing.

Aston Martin’s drivers included highly rated British drivers Harry Tincknell, Tom Gamble and Ross Gunn.

Between the sound of the Valkyrie and the Cadillac V Series R’s muscle-car grunt, the hypercar class is proving popular beyond the famous event at Le Mans, with more tickets being sold at the other seven events as part of the World Endurance Championship season.

In the lower protoype LMP2 class, Inter Europol’s 43 car took victory, with Britain’s W Series winner Jamie Chadwick retiring the Idec Sport 18 car earlier in the race.

The LMGT3 class was won by the Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3, with Richard Leitz of Austria crossing the line.

The next round of the World Endurance Championship is the Six Hours of Sao Paulo in 13 July.