Archive for April, 2005
Casino Magnate Steve Wynn Opens US$2.7b Mega-Hotel In Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS : Gambling magnate Steve Wynn early Thursday tore the wraps off his new hotel, casino and shopping fantasyland, an opulent US$2.7 billion Las Vegas mega-resort.
Wynn Las Vegas is a curvacious 2,716 room refuge, hiding behind a vast man-made mountain covered in conifers on the north end of the famous Las Vegas Strip, which marks its centenary on May 15.
The complex, which opened to eager customers just after midnight, boasts marble floors, walls painted in fantastic designs and modern furniture, designed to give a less formal feel than Wynn’s other Vegas hotels.
Its feature attraction is a huge lake visible from the main casino, and a 30-metre waterfall designed, along with the man-made mountain to mask noise from the adjacent Strip, and give visitors a sense of isolation from the sensory overload that is Las Vegas.
Every room in the hotel boasts at least two state-of-the-art flat screen televisions, including one in the bedroom.
Opening night prices were US$329 per night.
The 9,500 employee hotel also features a 2,000 seat dome designed for a new aqua-spectacular “The Dream” created by Belgium’s Franco Dragone, whose credits include productions by Montreal’s famed Cirque du Soleil and pop Diva Celine Dion’s current Las Vegas show.
The stage is an immense round pool, filled with nearly four million litres of water, where a troupe of athletes, gymnasts, swimmers and dancers cavort before slipping beneath the placid surface.
The casino with its gaming tables and slot machines aims for elegance, with its boutiques by Chanel, Dior, Cartier, Gaultier, Vuitoon and Brioni.
Guests are greeted at the hotel’s entrance by a Ferrari-Maserati dealership, where black and red dream machines revolve on pedestals, like diamonds in their showcases. - AFP /ch
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Alonso Holds Off Schumacher To Win At Imola
Alonso holds off Schumacher to win at Imola
Ferrari makes a vast improvement on its performance in the first three races
IMOLA: Fernando Alonso held off Michael Schumacher in a fierce battle over the final laps on Sunday to win the San Marino Grand Prix. The victory was Alonso’s third straight and meant Renault has won all four races this year, including Giancarlo Fisichella’s triumph in the season-opening Australian GP.
Sunday’s win allowed Alonso to increase his lead in the driver’s standings to 36 points.
Schumacher finished second, immediately behind Alonso, for his best result this season and now has 10 points.
Alonso and Schumacher raced 1-2 for the final 12 laps. Schumacher moved his Ferrari around the track in passing attempts on several occasions. Each time, Alonso responded with a block.
Schumacher appeared to get half of his car alongside Alonso on the final lap but Alonso would not budge and closed again.
Alonso took the lead when pole sitter Kimi Raikkonen retired after just eight laps with an apparent mechanical problem.
Schumacher started 13th after running wide onto the dirt in qualifying on Sunday morning. He made up several positions early in the race by making a later first pit stop than other top drivers, then passed Jenson Button on the 47th lap to do battle with Alonso.
Button, in a BAR Honda, rounded out the podium in third for his first finish this season.
Alonso covered 62 laps around the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in 1 hour, 27 minutes, 41.921 seconds. Schumacher was just 0.215 of a second behind, while Button finished 10.481 back.
It was a fourth career victory for the 23-year-old Alonso, widely considered the next great Formula One driver after Schumacher.
Schumacher, the seven-time world champion, made a vast improvement on his first three races, in which he finished only once for the worst start of his career.
Throngs of Ferrari fans cheered wildly when Schumacher passed Button and watched in awe as the new and old stars of the sport went head-to-head.
When it was over, they stood and applauded Schumacher’s return to form and Alonso’s performance under pressure.
Alonso waved three fingers in front of his on-board TV camera to mark his third straight win, including the Malaysian and Bahrain GPs.
Fisichella crashed out on the sixth lap but Renault remained atop the constructor’s standings with 46 points, followed by Toyota with 28 and McLaren-Mercedes at 24. Ferrari moved up from sixth to fourth with 18 points.
Alexander Wurz finished fourth in his first race since running with Benetton in 2000. Wurz was filling in for McLaren’s injured Juan Pablo Montoya. BAR’s Takuma Sato came fifth and Jacques Villeneuve of Sauber was sixth.
Toyota’s Jarno Trulli crossed seventh and maintained second place in the driver standings behind Alonso with 18 points.
Fisichella, Schumacher and brother Ralf Schumacher of Toyota are tied for third with 10 points each. Ralf Schumacher was eighth on Sunday.
Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello retired with electrical trouble after coming in for a pit stop on the 18th lap. Both Minardi drivers, Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher, also failed to finish.
Ferrari rushed its new F2005 models into action two races earlier than planned at Bahrain three weeks ago to mixed results. When he hit a bump going into a corner during qualifying Sunday — locking the car’s steering — it appeared it could become another trying weekend for the Maranello outfit.
Yet the race showed the F2005’s potential and confirmed to any doubters that Michael Schumacher has not lost his edge. After 28 laps, when all the top drivers had made their first pit stop, Michael Schumacher was third, 21.9 seconds behind Button, with Alonso in the lead 31.6 seconds in front.
With plenty of running room ahead of him, Michael Schumacher charged and made up an average of about two seconds per lap to pull Button within sight on the 40th lap. On the 47th lap, Michael Schumacher slipped by Button on the inside of a switchback turn, with the British driver possibly hindered by a lapped car in front of him. After a super-swift 6.1-second pit stop by Michael Schumacher on the 50th lap, the exciting finale with Alonso was set.
The German pushed his nose cone right up to Alonso’s tail wing. Renault boss Flavio Briatore gritted his teeth in the pits while Ferrari director Jean Todt’s gaze remained fixed on his TV monitor. — AP
Hindu On Net
Narain Finishes Creditable 14th
Narain finishes creditable 14th
Vijay Parthasarathy
Rates today’s drive higher than his 11th place finish in Sepang
CHENNAI:
As he positioned himself on the starting grid in Imola, Narain Karthikeyan might have briefly gone back in his mind to the graveyard that was Sakhir, before refocussing with grim determination on the immediate job at the San Marino track.
For several drivers like Narain, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve this was always going to be a tough race, a race for redemption. Each had his priorities, yes - Schumacher was looking for an improbable win after a disastrous second qualifying session; Villeneuve, the 1997 champion, had endured a poor start to the season and was desperately in need of points.
As for Narain, he entertained no such pretensions. He was merely looking to finish; plain and simple.
As it turned out both Jordans finished, with Narain ahead of Tiago Monteiro, despite the Indian having no prior racing experience at Imola. Narain finished a creditable 14th in cool, overcast conditions - very different from those in Malaysia and Bahrain - a lap behind Fernando Alonso, the eventual winner, but comfortably ahead of Monteiro; which is what matters.
Speaking to The Hindu over the phone from Imola, Narain said he was very happy with his performance; in fact he said that he rated this drive higher than his 11th place finish in Sepang. “I’m pushing closer and closer to the pace and by finishing races I’m gaining a lot of experience and simultaneously proving my ability to last,” Narain said.
As the season progresses, Bahrain (where his car gave out after two laps) is appearing like a blip as far as Narain is concerned; he’s now finished three of his first four races.
Good start
Narain had a good start on Sunday and maintained his position in the middle, just behind the two Red Bulls. He drove aggressively, bouncing over the kerbs and, for a while, even managed to push Coulthard. The Scotsman managed to pull away; but by then, Narain had proved a point.
Meanwhile, the race finished in an anti-climax for the new-look Minardis; neither managed to finish. Both went out relatively early, and overall it was a bad weekend after the stutter during qualifying.
Narain said that he was convinced the Minardis wouldn’t be able to pose much of a challenge for the remainder of the season. “Initially I was a little concerned that their new car could really push us,” he said, “but after watching them here I don’t think they can get too close to us. Their drivers made a couple of mistakes, yes, but crucially the car isn’t much quicker than it was before; and certainly not quick enough to do us any damage.”
Unfortunately Narain could only catch very little of Schumacher’s brilliant drive today, from 13th on the grid to a second-place podium finish. “He lapped me only once, so I barely got to see him in action,” said the 28 year-old, who makes no secret of his admiration for the great German driver.
Hindu On Net