German race car driver ADRIAN SUTIL has been awarded with the last remaining cockpit in F1. The Force India F1 Team announced that Sutil will complete its driver line-up for the '13 season. The 30-year-old German will race alongside Scot PAUL DI RESTA, recreating the successful partnership that raced together during the '11 season (Force India). ... U.S. skier LINDSEY VONN said that "a large number of people contacted her via Twitter after her crash at the Alpine World Ski Championships." In an interview with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Vonn revealed that "she was happily surprised about a 'get well' tweet" from Russian tennis player MARIA SHARAPOVA. She also said, "Oh, and ROGER FEDERER has sent me flowers. That was really nice, Roger. Thank you!" (BLICK, 2/28). ... Real Madrid striker KARIM BENZEMA was caught speeding more than 100km/h over the speed limit. Police said that the French int'l was going 216km//h in a 100km/h zone (LE MONDE, 2/28). ... Witnesses said that North Korea top leader KIM JONG UN and former NBA player DENNIS RODMAN sat together and watched a basketball game between the U.S. and North Korean players Thursday. The competition ended in a 110-110 draw, with 12 North Korean players and four players from the Harlem Globetrotters "divided into two teams." Rodman said after the game that "although relations between the two countries are regrettable, personally I am a friend of Marshal Kim Jong Un and the DPRK people" (XINHUA, 2/28).
RE-UPPING IN CHINA: U.S. basketball player MAYA MOORE "has renewed her contract for three years" with Chinese Women's Basketball Association side Shanxi (XINHUA, 2/28). ... UEFA President Michel Platini celebrated German football legend FRANZ BECKENBAUER's "memorable contribution to football as a player, coach and administrator" as "Der Kaiser" received the UEFA President's Award. Platini said, "Franz Beckenbauer has made a memorable contribution to football as a player, coach and administrator" (UEFA). .. Chinese table tennis players LIU GUOLIANG and KONG LINGHUI "have again joined forces at the leading role of the country's national squads' coaching staff." Liu will become the general head coach while also keeping his job as the men's head coach, and Kong will become the women's head coach (XINHUA, 2/27). ... The late Australian rally driver PETER "POSSUM" BOURNE "was inducted into the Australian Rally Hall of Fame this week, nearly 10 years since his death." An inaugural inductee to the MotorSport New Zealand Wall of Fame in '94, recognition for his achievement of winning seven consecutive Australian Rally Championships "has posthumously earned him a second inaugural induction" (APNZ, 2/28). ... Wales' most-capped int'l rugby player STEPHEN JONES "is to retire from rugby at the end of this season." Jones "will join the coaching staff" at his current Premiership club Wasps (London TELEGRAPH, 2/28).
