starts to end the year but will be without Boyd Cordner and

SPIELBERG, Austria -- Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in the opening practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix, smashing the circuit lap record for the Red Bull Ring in the process.Rosbergs time of 1:07.373 beat Michael Schumachers best time from the first qualifying session in 2003 by over half a second and was more than a second quicker than last years pole position time. The combination of fresh ultra-soft tyres and the Red Bull Rings recently laid surface undoubtedly contributed to the quick time, but the Mercedes once again looks like the package to beat, with Rosberg holding a 0.649s over Sebastian Vettel in the fastest Ferrari.Lewis Hamilton was second fastest, 0.357 off Rosberg, but had his first lap on his set of ultra-soft tyres ruined by traffic. He eventually set his time on 10-lap old tyres, suggesting he still has plenty of margin to improve given a fresh set. Vettel was exactly 0.2s quicker than Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in fourth, with Daniel Ricciardo fifth fastest, 1.155s off the pace of Rosberg.Although the Red Bull Ring only has nine corners, it proved to be a tricky challenge for several drivers during the 90-minute session. Max Verstappen twice damaged his car against the new kerbs at the exit of Turn 5 and exit of Turn 8. The bright yellow kerbs sit beyond the normal red and white kerbs and are there to act as a deterrent for drivers attempting to steal a tenth or two by either running wide at Turn 5 and 8 or cutting the apex at Turn 7.But the 18-year-old Verstappen was unperturbed by the warning and in the first half of the session lost a front wing endplate as he clouted the yellow kerbs on the exit of Turn 8. During a lull in the session he used his team radio to register a very public complaint, saying: I think those yellow kerbs on the high-speed corners are really dangerous.When he rejoined the track for a quick lap on super-soft tyres he hit the kerbs on the exit of Turn 5, again shedding a front wing endplate before damaging his front right suspension as he rejoined at speed over the second section of kerbing on the outside of the corner. From that point on he was just a passenger and ended up beached in the gravel trap beyond Turn 6. The mistake meant he did not set a quick lap on the ultra-soft tyres, leaving him eighth overall, behind Carlos Sainz and Felipe Massa and ahead of Daniil Kvyat and Valtteri Bottas who rounded out the top ten. Williams opted not to use the ultra-softs during the session, meaning Toro Rossos position in the timesheets may well drop when all the cars are on track on equal rubber.Vertsappen wasnt the only driver to make mistakes. Twenty five minutes into the session Hamilton spun on the exit of Turn 3, briefly entering the gravel before ending up on the edge of the circuit. Romain Grosjean was following him into the corner and had to swerve to miss him, leaving his Haas pointing towards the barrier. He managed to recover to the track without damage and went on to finish the session 11th fastest.Rosberg took a trip through the gravel at Turn 3 with 30 minutes remaining before Daniel Ricciardo crossed the gravel on the exit of Turn 6 towards the end of the session. Both drivers were able to rejoin with no major damage.Two incidents will be investigated by the stewards after the session. Marcus Ericsson strayed over the pit lane entrance line just as Ricciardo passed him around the outside at Turn 8, forcing the Red Bull to run wide. Onboard footage showed Ericsson lost the rear of his Sauber in the corner, pushing him wide just at the wrong moment. 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Brisbane coach Wayne Bennetts years of experience tell him form and fitness are all that matter going into a NRL finals campaign.Fortunately for the seven-time premiership coach, he feels both those elements are present in his Broncos outfit heading into this years playoffs.The Broncos are still a chance for a top-four finish after their convincing victory last weekend over ladder leaders Melbourne.A win over the Sydney Roosters on Thursday night and then a North Queensland loss to Gold Coast on Saturday would lift the 2015 grand finalists into fourth spot.But Bennett says a top-four finish matters less than how his team are travelling going into September.The important thing about finals, because Ive been in a few series, is that youre virtually injury-free and playing good football at that time of the year, Bennett said.You can be top of the league and you can be playing terrible and you probably know youre not going to get where you want to go deep down.If your forms good, regardless of where you finish, I just think you can still have a chance.Were both of those at the moment. Our forms good and were virtually injury-free.Bennett confirmed on Wednesday hooker Andrew McCullough would play despite missing Mondays training session with an ankle injury.The Roosters head north aiminng to end a disappointing campaign on a high.dddddddddddd.Trent Robinsons men are gunning for a third win from four starts to end the year but will be without Boyd Cordner and Sio Siua Taukeiaho.Ryan Matterson and Isaac Liu come into the starting line-up while Mitchell Frei is on the bench along with potential NRL debutant Nat Butcher.Despite a campaign which has left the Roosters languishing in 15th, Bennett is wary of his opponents after a 32-16 loss in July to the Tricolours.They towelled us up about six weeks ago down there - made us look pretty ordinary.Theyre a good football team still and theyve had some good results since then against the Cowboys and a few other top sides.Weve got our hands full, Bennett said.BRISBANE v ROOSTERS - Key match stats:* Broncos captain Corey Parker will play his 345th NRL match on Thursday and possibly his final one at Suncorp Stadium* Former Bronco Dale Copley came back to haunt his old club five weeks ago, scoring twice and setting up another in the Roosters 32-16 victory in Sydney* Roosters star Blake Ferguson has seven tries in seven matches against the Broncos including two in last years preliminary final defeat ' ' '