Peugeot returned to the top of the times in final practice for this weekend’s season finale of the World Endurance Championship in Bahrain. 

Jean-Eric Vergne set the pace in the Friday morning Free Practice 1 session aboard the #93 Peugeot 9X8 2024 Le Mans Hypercar, following up on Paul di Resta’s table-topping performance in FP1 on Thursday.

The Frenchman’s 1m49.443s set at the beginning of the 60-minute session gave him a margin of two tenths over second-placed Yifei Ye, who got down to a 1m40.662s aboard the customer AF Corse-run Ferrari 499P LMH. 

Lamborghini took third place courtesy of a 1m50.014s from Daniil Kvyat in the solo Iron Lynx SC63 LMDh. 

Peugeot, which has been given a Balance of Performance break for the Bahrain event, backed up its front-running FP3 pace with fourth position from di Resta in the second of the 9X8 LMHs. 

The ex-Formula 1 driver’s 1m50.028s put him just one hundredth of a second behind the Lamborghini. 

#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, #93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Mikkel Jensen

Photo by: Andreas Beil

The two Alpine A424 LMDhs finished fifth and sixth: Mick Schumacher’s 1m50.612s giving him a half second margin over Ferdinand Habsburg in the sister car run by the Signatech squad.

Antonio Fuoco placed the best of the factory Ferrari 499Ps in seventh and the sister AF-run works car jumped to eighth late in the session in Antonio Giovinazzi’s hands.

Fuoco only completed seven laps before pitting because of a suspected issue with a cable in the front Motor Generator Unit (MGU) and the car did not return to the track.

The two customer Jota Porsche 963 LMDhs rounded out the top 10 with Norman Nato just shading Oliver Rasmussen. 

Toyota took 11th with the fastest of its pair of GR010 HYBRID LMHs with Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel, while the championship-leading factory Porsche 963 was 12th in the hands of Andre Lotterer.

BMW, which led the way in FP2 on Thursday, ended up 17th and 18th with its pair of WRT-run M Hybrid V8s.

The #92 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3-R took top spot in LMGT3 with Alex Malykhin at the wheel. 

The Belarusian, who claimed the LMGT3 class title last time out in the WEC at Fuji in September with team-mates Klaus Bachler and Joel Sturm, set a 2m03.987s lap to end up just five hundredths quicker than Arnold Robin in the fastest of the Auto Sport Promotion Lexus RC F GT3s. 

Qualifying for the Bahrain 8 Hours kicks off at 16:00 local time on Friday.

Photos from Bahrain Friday Practice

WEC Bahrain – Free Practice 3 results

Former Derry U-20 GAA player Jude McAtamney is in line to make his NFL debut for the New York Giants on Sunday.

The Giants announced on Friday that current starting kicker Greg Joseph would be out of Sunday’s meeting with the Washington Commanders with an abdomen injury.

With punter Jamie Gillan also out, the chances of Swatragh man McAtamney making his competitive bow in the NFL have increased.

The 24-year-old, who is part of the Giants practice squad, impressed this summer and featured in pre-season games after joining the organisation as a free agent.

As part of the International Player Pathway, he is eligible for a place on the practice squad for three seasons and can be elevated to the active roster for this weekend’s game.

Joseph was signed to replace Graham Gano, who aggravated a hamstring injury in a 21-18 loss to Washington in September.

“I’m just preparing every week to be ready, even if I’m not playing,” McAtamney told BBC Sport NI in New York in October.

“Every week is a learning opportunity, and I feel like I’m learning and getting better as time goes on.”

MMA Fighting has Polaris 30 results live for the Condit vs. MVP fight card, a live blog of the anticipated main event, and more from Fairfield Halls in London, England.

In the main event, UFC veteran Carlos Condit and UFC welterweight star MVP, otherwise known as Michael “Venom” Page will clash in a middleweight contest. Condit, who retired after a loss at UFC 264 in July 2021, is a former WEC champion with a 32-14 career.

MVP lost via unanimous decision to Ian Machado Garry in his last UFC outing at UFC 303 this past June. He has won three of his past five UFC fights.

Check out the Polaris results below.

Main card (UFC Fight Pass at 3:30 p.m. ET)

Carlos Condit vs. Michael Page

Helena Crevar s. Nia Blackman

Keith Krokorian vs. Jed Hue

Nathaniel Wood vs. Cameron Else

Dante Leon vs. Ellis Younger

Eoghan O’Flanagan vs. Philippe Geyer

NEW ZEALAND will be performing their traditional Haka when they take on England in the Autumn Internationals.

The big match at Twickenham is kicking off the long-awaited Autumn clashes.

2

What are the lyrics to the Haka and is it always the same song?

New Zealand traditionally always sang a song called Ka Mate, which is a war cry written in 1820 by a Maori chief Te Rauparaha.

It was first performed by the All Blacks in 1888, but only at away matches until 1986.

The Ka Mate Haka is also performed during high profile funerals or to greet foreign dignitaries.

But in 2005, they came up with a newer version called Kapa O Pango, which is exclusive to the All Blacks rugby team and only performed during certain matches.

Nowadays, whenever New Zealand take to the field, nobody knows which version of the Haka they will sing.

Against South Africa, Read and Perenara led the team in performing Kapa O Pango.

Ka Mate Maori Lyrics

Kikiki! Kakaka!

Kauana kei waniwania taku tara

kei tarawahia, kei te rua i te kerokero!

He pounga rahui te uira

ka rarapa ketekete kau ana

To peru kairiri mau au e koro e!

Hi! Ha! – Ka wehi au ka matakana,

ko wai te tangata kia rere ure tirohanga

ngā rua rerarera

ngā rua kuri kakanui i raro! Aha ha!

Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!

Ka mate! ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!

Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru

Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā

Ā, upane! ka upane!

Ā, upane, ka upane, whiti te ra!

Ka Mate English lyrics

Let your valor rise! Let your valor rage!

We’ll ward off these haunting hands

while protecting our wives and children!

For thee, I defy

the lightning bolts of hell

while my enemies stand there in confusion!

O God – to think I would tremble

to a pack of wolves seeing fear, or running away,

because they would surely fall in the pit of shame

as food for the hounds who chow down in delight! Oh, what in the name…?

‘Tis death! ’tis death! (or: I may die) ’Tis life! ‘tis life! (or: I may live)

’Tis death! ‘tis death! ’Tis life! ‘tis life!

This is the hairy man

Who summons the sun and makes it shine

A step upward, another step upward!

A step upward, another… the Sun shines!

Kapa O Pango Maori lyrics

Kapa o pango kia whakawhenua au i ahau!

Hi aue, hi!

Ko Aotearoa e ngunguru nei!

Au, au, aue ha!

Ko Kapa o Pango e ngunguru nei!

Au, au, aue ha!

I ahaha!

Ka tu te ihiihi

Ka tu te wanawana

Ki runga ki te rangi e tu iho nei, tu iho nei, hi!

Ponga ra!

Kapa o Pango, aue hi!

Ponga ra!

Kapa o Pango, aue hi!

Kapa O Pango English lyrics

Let me go back to my first gasp of breath

It is New Zealand that thunders now

And it is my time!

It is my moment!

The passion ignites!

This defines us as the All Blacks

And it is my time!

It is my moment!

The anticipation explodes!

Feel the power

Our dominance rises

Our supremacy emerges

To be placed on high

Silver Fern!

All Blacks!

Silver Fern!

All Blacks!

Who leads the Haka?

There are no set rules as to who should lead the Haka.

Often it is led by the captain, as it was when Richie McCaw skippered the team, while sometimes it can be led by players with Maori ancestry, who are able to speak the language and give the best performance.

In recent matches, the Haka has typically been led by scrum-half TJ Perenara, but against the Springboks New Zealand changed things up with Perenara and captain Kieran Read jointly leading it.

And Perenara said he was proud of Read’s new leadership role.

He commented: “Kieran has been doing a lot of work on his role as a kaea (leader) and his pronunciation of Maori words.

“The work he’s been putting in I think has been awesome.

“What I’ve been saying to him is he is the leader of our group and when he steps up and leads Haka.

“I think it gives our team mana [prestige], and even for Māori back home to see non-Maori go through the processes to learn why he’s leading Haka, pronouncing the words the right way, and doing it the way he’s performed it, that’s special to me, not even as a rugby player or a team-mate, but as a Maori.”

2

MMA Fighting has UFC Edmonton results for the Moreno vs. Albazi fight card, a live blog of the top 2 fights, and more from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada, on Saturday.

In the main event, two-time UFC champion Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi clash in a flyweight contest. Moreno is coming off of consecutive close split-decision losses, while Albazi looks to improve his UFC record to 6-0 as he returns from a lengthy layoff.

The latest edition of the MMA Fighting Global Rankings has Moreno ranked No. 4, two spots ahead of Albazi at No. 6.

In the co-main event, two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas continues her surge up the flyweight ranks as she takes on Erin Blanchfield. “Thug Rose” has won two straight fights heading into her matchup with the talented Blanchfield, who is coming off just the second loss of her young career.

A previously scheduled main card bout between Derrick Lewis and Jhonata Diniz has been cancelled after Lewis withdrew due to a medical issue.

Check out the UFC Edmonton results below.

Main Card (ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

Brandon Moreno vs. Amir Albazi

Erin Blanchfield vs. Rose Namajunas

Caio Machado vs. Brendson Ribeiro

Ariane da Silva vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius

Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Dustin Stoltzfus

Mike Malott vs. Trevin Giles

Preliminary Card (ESPN+ at 5 p.m. ET)

Aiemann Zahabi vs. Pedro Munhoz

Charles Jourdain vs. Victor Henry

Jack Shore vs. Youssef Zalal

Alexandr Romanov vs. Rodrigo Nascimento

Serhiy Sidey vs. Garrett Armfield

Chad Anheliger vs. Cody Gibson

Jamey-Lyn Horth vs. Ivana Petrovic