F1 teams to discuss split

SPORTS DIGEST/Motor Sport:  Leading carmakers will meet Formula One team bosses before the start of the season on March 6th to outline their blueprint for a 'rival' series from 2008.

A spokesman for the Grand Prix World Championship (GPWC) being planned by Mercedes, Renault, Ferrari and BMW said yesterday that no date or location had been confirmed but the meeting would be before the Australian Grand Prix.

"We are progressing into the key areas that the new series needs to have in place to start on time," he said. "We will present them to the team principals before the start of the season for their input and approval."

A report in Britain's Times newspaper yesterday said the GPWC planned to promise the teams 80 per cent of the sport's revenues, quadrupling their current combined share of about €140 million a year, as well as giving them greater control of the business, which is limited under the terms of the present deal with the sport's supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

MOTOR SPORT: American Robby Gordon regained the overall lead in the Dakar Rally after winning the 123-km special stage between Rabat and Agadir on yesterday's fourth leg.

Gordon clocked one hour, 14 minutes and one second, 53 seconds ahead of 2004 rally winner Stephane Peterhansel of Belgium. Gordon tops the overall standings in his VW, 59 seconds ahead of Peterhansel.

Briton Colin McRae, a winner in Spain on Sunday, slipped to 10th overall, 3:46 off the pace, after finishing 11th on the day.

The motorbike special section was cancelled because of thick fog. France's David Fretigne on a Yamaha kept the overall lead.

SWIMMING: Swim Ireland's most promising underaged competitors will this weekend train at the University of Limerick ahead of the Youths Olympics, reports Pat Roche.

The sessions represent the first major step towards putting a team together for the event which is fixed for Lignano, Italy in July. Irish swimmers have been successful at these Games in the past with New Ross's Hugh O'Connor and Dubliner Chantal Gibney getting among the medals. At present the squad comprises eight under-16 boys and eight girls, aged 13 to 14.