EQUESTRIAN: World show jumping champion Dermott Lennon has signed a second lucrative contract, with news breaking yesterday that he is to train a group of personally selected riders from the Gulf States as part of a three-year deal, reports Grania Willis.
The 34-year-old has been contracted by Rayadh Almalik, owner of the top stable in Saudi Arabia, to hand-pick up to 20 riders for training over the next three years, including members of the Saudi royal family. One of the Jordanian riders involved has already qualified for this summer's Athens Olympics.
The terms of the contract also include Lennon finding suitable horses for the whole group, potentially two for each rider, with a minimum expenditure of €100,000 per animal.
"I have to go and assess the riders and it really depends what level they're riding at," Lennon said from the international horse show in Abu Dhabi, where he rode I Caesar to share the Puissance honours in a three-way tie yesterday for his third win of the week.
"I'll also have to sort through the horses they've already got and see what's good enough to keep. I will be looking for horses in Ireland, but I won't know how many until I see what they've got at the moment."
Lennon, who will compete at the Dubai International next week, will fly back to the Gulf in February after competing at Zurich at the end of the month and at two shows in Holland.
The terms of the agreement include Lennon spending four weeks a year training the riders in the Gulf, but there are also plans for the best performers to join Lennon at his base in Holland, to gain experience.
Lennon wouldn't put a value on this new contract, but it comes hot on the heels of a €2 million sponsorship deal announced before Christmas.
The Saudi prince Sultan Bin Fahad Bin Nasser Bin Abdulaziz agreed a €1.7 million package with the world champion, and further backing from the Dutch airline KLM and computer component company Sun Microsystems has boosted the total to well over €2 million.
MOTOR SPORT: France's Stephane Peterhansel stormed into the lead of the Dakar Rally yesterday after mechanical problems cost his Mitsubishi team-mate Hiroshi Masuoka more than an hour.
The Frenchman, an early leader of the rally before collecting a five-minute penalty, surged ahead to win the 355 km eighth stage and lead Belgian Gregoire De Mevius's BMW by 64 minutes and 38 seconds.
Masuoka slipped to third place previously occupied by Briton Colin McRae, the 1995 world rally champion, who was forced to wait for mechanical assistance in his Nissan at the 300 km mark.
Germany's Jutta Kleinschmidt, the first woman to win the Dakar, was second-fastest yesterday but looked likely to be disqualified after starting with a replacement engine in her VW Touareg.
In the motorcycle category, Spain's Nani Roma took the overall lead from French rider Cyril Despres, who lost his way after accidentally unplugging his GPS positioning system and dropped to seventh place.
Meanwhile, a search party was sent to rescue British motorcyclist Nick Plumb after he went missing yesterday.
The 25-year-old Team Dome BMW rider failed to report for the start of the stage and was believed to have spent the night alone in the west African desert.
Plumb had battery problems on Wednesday and split up from team-mate Simon Pavey.
MOTOR SPORT: Renault will assess the innovative nose on Williams's new Formula One car and could copy it, according to the team's engineering boss.
"The Williams appears interesting and logical," said Pat Symonds yesterday. "We'll look at it in the wind tunnel soon and other teams will be trying it as well, I'm sure. We could incorporate the idea into our 2004 car."
Williams unveiled their FW26 car, with its shortened nose and sweeping tusk-like front wing supports, on Monday. Renault's 2004 car is due to be launched in Palermo, Sicily, on January 29th.
GOLF: Ireland's three representatives hoping to earn a place in the 2004 British Open are a long way off the pace after the first round at the Atlantic Beach course near Cape Town. Four players from the field of 60 will earn places at Troon.
Ciarán McMonagle is tied 40th after a three-over-par 75, two shots ahead of Tim Rice and nine clear of James Loughnane, who shot a 12-over-par 84.
