Sport
Engineer wins another World Championship
PEMBROKESHIRE-BORN engineer Owen Jones has won his third consecutive World Championship as an integral member of the Mercedes Formula One Team, in which he is the Director of Performance and a key member of company’s Engine Factory at Brixworth, near Northampton.
For the third year running, the fantastic Mercedes engine has outpaced its competitors at Ferrari, Renault and Honda to propel another Mercedes car to the summit of the Formula One World Championship – this time in the hands of German driver Nico Rosberg.
The extremely complicated V6 1.6 litre turbocharged Mercedes engine has over 3,000 components and is, of course, at the cutting edge of Formula One power unit technology and is acknowledged to be the best in Formula One.
It has helped Mercedes (whose headquarters is based at Brackley in the UK) achieve an incredible record of success in the V6 hybrid-turbo era of Formula One. Mercedes has won the drivers’ Formula One World Championship for the last three years – with Lewis Hamilton in 2014 and 2015 and this year with Nico Rosberg.
During that time, it has won 51 out of the 59 Grands Prix held, taking 56 out of 59 pole positions and has led in 84% of the laps raced. It has won the last three constructors championships by nearly 300 points each time.
This years WO7 has been even more impressive, winning 19 out of 21 Grands Prix and missing pole position just once.
Last week, Owen and his wife, Amanda, attended the prestigious annual presentation evening at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London, where Owen, together with five of his Mercedes colleagues, was presented with the Autosport Racing Car of the Year Award by World Champion Nico Rosberg.
Originally from Letterston and a former pupil at Fishguard Secondary School, Owen gained a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, London before joining Cosworth Racing as a Senior Engineer designing Formula One Engines for Jaguar and Stewart cars.
He was later headhunted by Mercedes to be Head of Performance Engineering and has since gained considerable success in the world of Formula One. This is the fifth World Title to come Owen’s way with a Mercedes engine.
The first was with Lewis Hamilton driving a McClaren in 2008, and then with Jenson Button’s Brawn car in 2009.
These were followed by Lewis Hamilton’s double success in 2014 and 2015 and now Owen has a fifth World Championship win with this year’s Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid World Championship car driven by Nico Rosberg (following in the footsteps of his father, Keke Rosberg, who won the 1982 World Championship).
Owen believes next year will be even harder with Red Bull, particularly, threatening to catch up. The mighty Ferrari is not far behind.
Owen lives near Towcester with his wife, Amanda, and children, Elena and Alice. His parents, Patrick and Valerie Jones, formerly of Letterston, now live at Loveston near Kilgetty.
Sport
The stage is set – Senior Cup Final
It’s the time of the year again, Saturday see’s Bridge Meadow host the senior cup final. The sun has been shining and both teams will be dying to get on the pitch. This year the final will be contested by Goodwick United and Clarbeston Road.
League champions Goodwick will go into the final as favourites, and most around the county expect a Goodwick win. It has been an outstanding season for Goodwick however cup success has evaded them so far. Clarbeston Road have impressed everyone this season and really deserve their place in this years final.
Neill Crawshaw will referee the game, with Tudor Walters and Stefan Jenkins running the line.
There will be a unique contest on the pitch as brothers Will Haworth and Laurie Haworth come face to face on opposing teams. Adrian their father was a great player in the county, and played in many cup finals himself.
The stage is set, Clarby will feel less pressure than Goodwick and will be a threat with Haworth, John and Davies in attack. Meanwhile Goodwick are also blessed with quality players in every department, there is no weak link in O’Sullivans team. Cup football and finals in particular never go as people predict. On paper Goodwick are firm favourites, Clarbeston Road will be happy the game will be played on grass though and not paper, anything can happen! Hopefully it’ll be a good crowd down at the Meadow for the show piece of Pembrokeshire football.
News
70 Pembrokeshire clubs benefit from Sport Wales funding
SEVENTY Pembrokeshire clubs have been successful in receiving grants from the Be Active Wales Fund over the last financial year.
In total the clubs received more than £407,800 from the grants scheme from Sport Wales in 2023/24.
The fund backed 25 different sports, ranging from archery, basketball and cricket to sailing, short mat bowls and weightlifting and everything in between.
The Be Active Wales Fund is open to applications from not for profit community clubs and groups to help develop and sustain their activities.
Grants range from a minimum of £300 up to a maximum of £50,000.
The scheme will support coach education courses, the purchase of essential items of equipment right up to larger projects such as floodlighting and boats for sailing clubs.
For advice and support with your application contact Alan Jones or Lois Hilling at Pembrokeshire County Council’s Sports Development department, Sport Pembrokeshire on [email protected]
The Be Active Wales Fund is always open for applications.
More information is available on the Sport Wales website.
Sport
Clarby stand in the way of Goodwick double
Two thrilling semi finals last weekend has meant Goodwick United and Clarbeston Road will meet in the senior cup final this coming Saturday.
Goodwick faced Pennar Robins in their semi final who pushed the champions very hard. Carl Vincent will be disappointed but proud of the Robins as they gave a great account of themselves. However in the end Goodwick’s quality and experience just was too much for Vincent’s team.
The other semi was an absolute thriller, and after a nail biting game Matthew Fox’ Clarby progressed to the final. A offside call has sparked a lot of debate around the county. However it seems that linesman Jenkins made an absolute perfect call so credit to him for that.
Both teams would have wanted a nice week of preparation for the final, maybe without any games to play. Unfortunately this hasn’t been possible due to the fixture backlog and both outfits have played already this week.
Goodwick will be favourites of course, however if anyone can upset the apple cart Saturday it’s this Clarbeston Road team. Fox’ outfit have impressed over and over this season. Without too much pressure on them, they are in a good place going into the final.
The double at one staged looked like the minimum Goodwick would be aiming for this season. However losses in other cup competitions, means its Senior Cup success or just the league title for the outstanding team of the season. Oddly becoming champions with no cup success maybe seen as a huge disappointment considering their dominance this season. A unique pressure. However if anyone can handle that pressure it’s O’Sullivans outfit.
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