2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Background
Loeb and Grönholm were the favourites to win; Loeb had won the Monte Carlo three times in a row between 2003 and 2005, and Grönholm had won in 2006. Nevertheless, there were worries that Loeb would not be physically fit enough to win. Four months earlier he had broken his left shoulder in a mountain-biking accident, and there was a chance he might not even compete in the first part of the season. His physiotherapists and consultants told him that because of the operations he had had on his arm, he should definitely have sat out the Monte Carlo Rally. Loeb admitted that he was "really stressed" before the start, and wondered whether his arm would be okay. "It has been okay in testing but what about the long stages?" he asked. His answer: "I don't know."


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Following a ten-year absence of nighttime-run stages, the first two Special Stages of the event were held on Thursday night. They were the first night stages scheduled in the rally since 1997. Throughout the day it had rained, and although it had stopped before the race began, the roads were still very wet and slippery.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
In discussing the day's weather, Grönholm said that he expected the stages that night to be difficult, and added, "I hope this time we can take the right tyres, we were always a little bit on the wrong side [last year] – it’s not easy, but I hope we will manage to get it right this time."


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Earlier in the day, the crews had driven a shakedown stage in Mauves; however, due to a large number of fans and spectators along the route the shakedown was stopped early, and some crews including Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena were forced to carry out last-minute testing and necessary changes to their cars on the main roads back to Valence. Though forty-nine crews registered in the rally, only forty-seven actually competed. Privateers François Duval driving a Škoda Fabia WRC, and Angelo Villa in a Fiat Punto failed to start the event.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
The first stage of the rally started at 19:16 Central European Time (UTC+1) on Thursday evening. The 28.52 kilometres (17.72 miles) winding route led the crews between Saint-Jean-en-Royans and Col de Lachau. Before taking to the tarmac, Chris Atkinson, in a 2006 Impreza WRC for the Subaru WRT, admitted to never driving a tarmac stage at night before, but said it would be interesting to see how everybody performed.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
His teammate Petter Solberg spoke of the challenges facing him: "[In the dark] everything gets a little bit more narrow and you always tend to be careful with how you turn in and keep the speed up in the corners, but obviously you have to listen to the pacenotes, that is absolutely crucial thing, 100%." Loeb, who was familiar with driving on nighttime stages in the French Rally Championship, said, "In the dark you have to drive like you can when you have only two passes on the recce, and then you also start with the fastest stage.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
I think there can be some big moments tonight." Loeb and Elena took to the road first in their C4, and despite the limited visibility from both his ride position and the unlit roads, he set a pace time of 13m 58.7s. His teammate Dani Sordo and co-driver Marc Marti were able to keep up the pace, maxing out at 196 kilometres per hour (122 miles per hour) at one point along the route, and finished in 14m 07.2s for second place.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Taking third place on the stage were the Ford crew of Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen, who finished after 14 m 13.9s. On Stage 2, a 17.88 km (11.11 mi) run from La Cime du Mas to Col de Gaudissart, Loeb held on to the lead, completing it in 9m 31.2s. Grönholm proved to be faster than Sordo on this stage, finishing with a time of 9m 45.5s, 1.1s faster than Sordo. At the end of Leg 1 and 46 km (29 mi), any worries about how well the new C4s would perform had been forgotten. They had beaten all the competition by a wide margin. Loeb was almost 25 seconds ahead of his teammate, while Grönholm was 30 seconds adrift; and Petter Solberg, over a minute behind the lead.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
There were six stages in Leg 2 on Friday, totalling 150.62 competitive km (93.59 mi). Stage 3 was the first of these, starting at 08:19 CET in Saint-Pierreville. The route was 46.02 km (28.60 mi) long and finished in Antraigues. The previous leg's provisional classification determined the starting order for Leg 2, whereby the top 15 P1 and P2 drivers started in reverse order, followed by the remaining drivers in order of classification.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Henning Solberg and Cato Menkelud, driving a 2006-spec Focus RS WRC for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team were the first crew to take to the still-damp roads, and they set a time of 32m 52.9s. Their teammates, Matthew Wilson and Michael Orr, completed the leg a minute quicker, at 31m 42.5s. With no snow and ice on the roads, Sordo, who proved to be very quick on the tarmac surfaces last season, was fastest on Stage 3.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
He set a time of 29m 43.4s, a wide margin ahead of Loeb's and Grönholm's second- and third-placed times of 29m 59.6s and 30m 01.1s, respectively. Loeb was said to be "visibly shaken" from losing the stage to his less-experienced teammate. "I lost 16 seconds, my tyres were too hard," he said. "At the start they went cold and I wasn't in a good rhythm. Before we reached some dry parts I wasn't confident and I didn't want to take any big risks this morning."


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Most drivers had problems with their tyre selection on Stage 3, including Petter Solberg and Hirvonen. Petter was still trying to get used to the new BF Goodriches his car was outfitted with, but he found them too hard and said he could not find any feeling or grip with them. Hirvonen, however, felt his tyre compound was too soft, and was unimpressed with his time. Hirvonen completed the stage ninth, in 30m 41.5s, but Petter's time of 30m 50.0s was even worse, putting him in 12th position.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Petter's Subaru teammate Atkinson had no problems with his tyres, though, and he finished fourth with a time of 30m 03.5s. The Mitsubishi Lancer WRC crew of  Xavier Pons and Xavier Amigo had other troubles during this stage. The transmission failed and they had to retire from the rally. Their teammates Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen set a good time on the stage when they finished in fifth place, as did OMV-Kronos's Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor in sixth.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
At the end of Stage 3, the podium positions were unchanged, but the time difference between Loeb and Sordo had decreased to seven seconds, although the gap between first place and fourth was over a minute. Petter Solberg had dropped out of contention for points, in ninth place overall, eighth being taken by Jan Kopecký in a privately entered Škoda Fabia WRC. Before Stages 4 and 5 got underway, the crews had a chance to change their tyres to a set with a more suitable compound.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
A new WRC rule for 2007 allowed for Remote Service Zones to be set up away from the main Service Park at Rally HQ. For 15 minutes the cars could be refuelled, re-tyred, and have any necessary maintenance carried out, as long as the parts and tools to do so (except fuel and tyres) were already in the vehicle. For Grönholm this was a major relief. On the previous stage his car had developed an issue with the hydraulic flappy-paddle gearchanges on his steering wheel, which meant he had had to resort to shifting gears manually.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
The technicians were unsure why or how it had occurred and were hoping that their repairs would last until the car got back to Valence. Loeb won an uneventful Stage 4, but only by one-tenth of a second ahead of Sordo, and on Stage 5 Sordo was quicker than Loeb, after Loeb stalled on the start-line and was unable to make up the lost seconds. At the midday break, Loeb was lamenting his lead over Sordo. "Now it's a big battle between the two C4s. The other cars for the moment are behind, so it's good news for the team.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
It would be easier if Dani were bit further behind but I have to deal wit that," he said. "I'll try to keep position this afternoon, but it's not easy. Dani is really fast. I only have a six-second lead." Grönholm was also complaining. " The only good thing here is to win this rally, but to drive here; I don't like it."


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Stage 6 was a rerun of the Saint-Pierreville – Antraigues stage from the morning. The roads had dried out by the afternoon, but that did not stop some crews from having accidents along the route. Stohl spun out as he went through a corner, and crashed the front of his car into the stone wall of a house. He continued on, but the front bumper was damaged and hanging loose. "We lost the front brakes completely," Stohl explained. "Absolutely no brakes. I was lucky to finish because I was nearly off sometimes."


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Despite his difficulties, he managed to finish the stage in 29m 37.6s which put him in 10th position for the stage, and 8th overall. The dry roads meant that all the drivers were able to complete the stage faster than they had been in the morning. At just 5 km (3.1 mi) Loeb was already much faster than his time during Stage 3, but on a narrow stretch of the route towards the Col de la Fayolle he did not brake into a corner at the right time and skidded and collided with a fence.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
He was able to carry on driving, but co-driver Elena's door and sill were damaged. Despite the accident, he won the stage, and increased the overall gap between himself and Sordo from 6.5 seconds to nearly 24 seconds. A repeat run of Stages 4 and 5 closed the day. Sordo won Stage 8 and Loeb took Stage 9. But by the end of the Leg and 550.02 km (341.77 mi) of driving, Loeb's arm and shoulder were in great pain and his osteopath worked through the night to try to address the problems.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Leg 3 began early Saturday morning. Following Friday's stages, Loeb was 25 seconds ahead of Sordo, and 1m 15s in front of Grönholm. Stage 9 was the first of the day, a 19.67 km (12.22 mi) route between Labatie-d'Andaure and Lalouvesc held in darkness. Loeb, Sordo, and Grönholm once again finished first, second and third. Atkinson suffered a setback when he crashed his car and stalled it. It cost him a few seconds and he finished the stage ninth, behind Hirvonen, Jean-Marie Cuoq, Gardemeister and Kopecký, but he retained his fourth place standing in the event's classifications. The surprise result of Stage 10 was Atkinson's. He broke Loeb's and Sordo's run and was the first fastest non-Citroën driver of the rally, and set a time of 12m 42s.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Henning Solberg, meanwhile, went off the road and into a ditch as he entered one of the corners on the stage, and his brother Petter had a similar problem in the same corner, but his quick reactions were able to control the car so he just drove into the scrub and got back on track. Henning finished in seventeenth place, and Petter finished joint-fifth with Cuoq on 12m 50.4s. Loeb ran his slowest time on this stage after he reduced speed and his tyres went cold.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
"I was a bit faster than Dani [Sordo] on the start of the stage, and then I saw my splits [times between checkpoints] and then I tried to slow down," he explained. "We had hard tyres and when you slow down the tyres [cool down] and then you lose the grip more and more, and at the end it was really tricky and I had cold tyres, so I just tried to slow down. The end [of the stage] was really tricky so I didn't want to take any risks."


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Stage 11 was won by Hirvonen with a time of 11m 46.9s. Loeb was 1.2s slower and finished second. Atkinson lost all the time he made up in Stage 10 by finishing in eighth place, 11.4 seconds slower than Hirvonen. This reduced the gap between the two in the overall classifications to just 8.9 seconds. Sordo, meanwhile, had his worst stage and finished in 10th position.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
After the midday service, the next three stages were reruns of the morning's. Hirvonen won Stage 12 and Atkinson had another slow run, which resulted in Hirvonen taking fourth place in the provisional classification by four-tenths of a second. On Stage 13, Atkinson retook his fourth-placed position after winning the stage with a time of 12m 32.4w, and beating Hirvonen by 7.6 seconds. "Considering how ordinary I drove in the first one, I had to pull my finger out!" said Atkinson. He regained his fourth-place position just 7.2 seconds ahead of Hirvonen. Loeb was slow again, 6.7 seconds slower than his teammate, Sordo, which cut the time between them to 23.2 seconds. "No problem, the car is going very well," said Loeb. "One stage more to go and hopefully its okay."


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Stage 14 was the last in the mountains of Ardeche, before travelling to Monte Carlo for the Super Special Stage. For most drivers it was going to be the last time to gain higher positions in the classifications. Loeb, although slow again, extended his lead in the standings to 31.1 seconds, by finishing in fourth position with a time of 11m 47.7s. Sordo also had another bad stage. He finished the stage ninth-fastest after 11m 55.6s on the road.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
For Hirvonen, it was the last good chance to retake fourth position from Atkinson, which he did when he won the stage by setting the pace time of 11m 30.5s. Atkinson ran 8 seconds slower and finished second. It was also Jari-Matti Latvala's last chance to earn a points position. Kopecký had been in eighth position and set to score one point since the middle of the second Leg, but Latvala was just 5.4 seconds behind him going into this stage.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
But Latvala pushed too hard and when he drove over some loose gravel he lost control and slid the car into the end of a stone wall. The impact caused damage to the car's roll cage which forced him to retire from the rally and end his attempt to earn any points.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
The final stage of the rally took place on Sunday morning. After conducting the entire race in France the organisers only paid lip service to the principality by holding a Super Special Stage there. It involved two laps of part of the Circuit de Monaco for a total distance of 2.8 km (1.7 mi), with two cars on the road at the same time but starting at two different points along the track so that they did not interfere with each other.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Because the Service Park was in Valence, repairs, adjustments, refuelling and tyre changes were carried out on Saturday night ahead of the drive down to the coast. The decision about which tyres to fit on the cars was taken out of the teams' hands. ACM ordered that all the cars would drive on the snow tyres that the teams had been allocated, but had not been used because of the dry weather, a decision that was described as "absurd" because the cars ended up drifting through the corners.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Race
Loeb's, Sordo's and Grönholm's lead times so far ahead of anyone else's, so the interest in Stage 15 was on Hirvonen and Atkinson. Only eight-tenths of a second made the difference between a fourth-place position and five points, and fifth-placed position and four points. Hirvonen, who was in fourth place, completed the stage in 1m 50.9s, and admitted, "[I made] a few small mistakes, and that can be it. Nothing more I can do. We'll see how Chris drives and hope for the best.". Atkinson drove opposite Grönholm on the stage, with Hirvonen watching from the sidelines. To beat Hirvonen, he had to complete the stage in 1m 50.0s. He was one-tenth of a second quicker than that, which won him the stage and fourth place in the rally.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Post-race
Loeb was delighted with his win at Monte Carlo, saying, "It's a victory in Monte Carlo so that's a great moment. I like to start the season like this, with ten points. That's really important for me, the feeling is good. The car is really, really fast and my arm is much better, so everything is perfect for the moment." Guy Fréquelin, the Team Principal at  Citroën Total was also pleased with Leob's and Sordo's results. He said afterwards,


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Post-race
It's a really a fantastic start for Citroën, for the team, for the crews. It's really fantastic, and for the chief, for sure! This is the result of a huge team effort. To do this in the first event, every member of the Citroën Sport team had to come together in a common goal. I think it's a wonderful reward for our pus to come back to the World Championship. It's not often that a car making its competition début produces results like these: nine fastest times, eight on them 1–2s. And there aren't many models that have dominated and scored a 1–2 finish in their first race, either. The Citroën C4 WRC has really made its presence felt on its international début.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Post-race
The last time a car had finished in first and second-place in its début rally was 20 years ago in the 1987 Monte Carlo Rally, when Miki Biasion and Juha Kankkunen came first and second in all-new Lancia Delta HF 4WDs. The Delta HF 4×4 also won two-thirds of all the stages of that 1987 rally, just like the C4 did this time around. Lancia also won both the Group A and Group N categories in the race, while Citroën won the 4-wheel drive WRC category and came first in the 2-wheel drive Super 1600 category.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Post-race
Sébastien Loeb, commenting on the weekend in the post-race press conference.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Post-race
Grönholm was disappointed with his race, admitting that he thought he might be able to beat Sordo, if not Loeb. But after having gearbox and tyre problems on Leg 2, he settled into third place and stayed in that position to the rally's conclusion. "We got it wrong on the tyre choice, which we had to have approved by the FIA early in the week," he explained. "We thought it would rain. Harder tyres would have made life easier for us." BP-Ford was also unhappy. Christian Loriaux, the team's Technical Director said, "Having Marcus finish behind Sordo is disappointing.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Post-race
Being behind Loeb is easier to understand, because I didn't expect the C4 to be any slower than the Xsara, and that car had a performance edge over us last year." Petter Solberg also had issues with his tyres throughout the rally. After Subaru switched to BF Goodriches from Pirelli following the 2006 season, and with the shortest break between seasons the WRC had seen, the crews had not had enough time to test the new compounds. The Subarus had had their problems with the Pirellis, too.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Post-race
To protect them from breaking up too quickly the drivers had learned how to look after them, but driving that way on the new brand meant that he could not get the BFs up to temperature and ended up running slower. He finished the rally in sixth place. His teammate Atkinson did not have that problem though, and after fighting with Hirvonen in the final half of the rally, finished in fourth place. "It's been a massive battle, and so much fun to be in a battle with these guys again," he said after being congratulated by Hirvonen. Two drivers in non-manufacturer cars, Gardemeister and Kopecký, finished in seventh and eighth place to receive drivers points.


2007 Monte Carlo Rally, Report, Post-race
As a consequence of the final positions, Loeb started the season leading in the World Rally Championship for Drivers with ten points. Sordo was second with eight points, Grönholm was in third position with six points. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Stobart Ford had one point from Henning Solberg's fourteenth-placed position (although Wilson finished the rally quicker, he was not nominated to earn points for the manufacturer). Stohl earned OMV-Kronos Citroën two points. Subaru were in third place with eight points, BP-Ford were two points clear of Subaru in second place, and Citroën Total WRT was first, with eighteen points – ten from Loeb's win and eight from Sordo.


2007 Monte Paschi Eroica
The 2007 Monte Paschi Eroica was the first professional edition of the Monte Paschi Eroica bike race, later called Strade Bianche. It was raced on Tuesday 9 October 2007 in the province of Siena in Tuscany, Italy. The race was won by Russian rider Alexandr Kolobnev, who completed a 40 km solo, narrowly staying ahead of his teammate Marcus Ljungqvist at the finish. It held a 1.1 UCI rating on the 2007 continental calendar.


2007 Monte Paschi Eroica
The professional race was spun off the granfondo L'Eroica, a recreational bike race for vintage bikes, on the white gravel roads around Siena, an event that continues to this day. The inaugural edition was the only time the race was held mid-week and in autumn; before moving to early March in 2008. Monte dei Paschi, the world's oldest still existing bank and headquartered in Siena, served as the race's title sponsor.


2007 Monte Paschi Eroica
As a newly created race, organizer RCS - Gazzetta dello Sport asked local Tuscan cycling icons Fiorenzo Magni and Paolo Bettini to promote the event.


2007 Monte Paschi Eroica, Route
The race started in Gaiole in Chianti and ended in Siena, and was run entirely within the boundaries of the province of Siena, in southern Tuscany. The course ran over the undulating hills of the Chianti region and included seven sectors of gravel roads (strade bianche or sterrati), totaling 60 kilometres of dirt roads on a 181 km distance. The race finished on Siena's illustrious Piazza del Campo; the finish came after a particularly steep and narrow ascent over a roughly-paved road into the heart of the medieval city.


2007 Monte Paschi Eroica, Report
Eight riders forced the decisive break on the sterrato climb to Montalcino at 107 km from the finish, facing the remaining four sectors of dirt road. Alexandr Kolobnev and Marcus Ljungqvist (Team CSC), Eros Capecchi (Liquigas), José Alberto Benítez and Manuele Mori (Saunier Duval-Prodir), José Enrique Gutierrez (Team LPR), Jure Golčer (Tenax-Salmilano) and Ricardo Serrano (Tinkoff Credit Systems) were the men to fight out the race as it wound its way back north to Siena.


2007 Monte Paschi Eroica, Report
Kolobnev used his Worlds' form to attack and drop his companions on the penultimate sector. The Russian kept his bike upright on the technical gravel descents that comprised the final strada bianca. After the final sector, 11 km from Siena, he held a 40-second advantage over the chase.


2007 Monte Paschi Eroica, Report
Saunier put the most into the chase with two men but were discouraged by Ljungqvist sitting on. The Swede used his stored strength on the final stretches into Siena to attack and take second place behind his teammate Kolobnev.


2007 Monterey Sports Car Championships
The 2007 Monterey Sports Car Championships was the 12th and final round of the 2007 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, California on October 20, 2007.


2007 Monterey Sports Car Championships, Official results
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).


2007 Montgomery mayoral election
The 2007 Montgomery mayoral election took place on August 28, 2007, to elect the Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Bobby Bright.


2007 Montgomery mayoral election
The election was officially nonpartisan. Had no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff election would have been held between the top two candidates.


2007 Montreal Alouettes season
The Montreal Alouettes finished third place in the East Division in 2007. Jim Popp decided to remain as head coach rather than hire a replacement for Don Matthews, who unexpectedly resigned the previous season. The results were unexpected as the Alouettes endured their first losing season since rejoining the league in 1996. They appeared in the East Semi-Final, losing to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and putting an end to a disappointing season.


2007 Montreal Alouettes season, Playoffs, East Semi-Final
Date and time: Saturday, November 11, 1:00 PM Eastern Standard TimeVenue: Canad Inns Stadium, Winnipeg, Manitoba


2007 Montreux Volley Masters
The 2007 Montreux Volley Masters was held in Montreux, Switzerland between 5 June and 10 June 2007. In the tournament participated 8 teams. The team of China won the Tournament, Cuba placed 2nd and the Netherlands 3rd.


2007 Monza Superbike World Championship round
The 2007 Monza Superbike World Championship round was the sixth round of the 2007 Superbike World Championship season. It took place on the weekend of May 11–13, 2007, at the 5.793 km (3.600 mi) Monza circuit in Italy.


2007 Moorilla Hobart International
The 2007 Moorilla Hobart International was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 14th edition of the Moorilla Hobart International, and was part of the Tier IV Series of the 2007 WTA Tour. It took place at the Hobart International Tennis Centre in Hobart, Australia, from 7 through 12 January 2007.


2007 Moorilla Hobart International, Champions, Doubles
Elena Likhovtseva /  Elena Vesnina def. Anabel Medina Garrigues /  Virginia Ruano Pascual, 2-6 6-1 6-2


2007 Moorilla Hobart International – Doubles
Émilie Loit and Nicole Pratt were the defending champions, but both chose not to participate that year.


2007 Moorilla Hobart International – Doubles
Elena Likhovtseva and Elena Vesnina won in the final against Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.


2007 Moorilla Hobart International – Singles
Michaëlla Krajicek was the defending champion, but lost in the First Round to Séverine Brémond.


2007 Moorilla Hobart International – Singles
Anna Chakvetadze won in the Final against Vasilisa Bardina,6–3, 7–6(7–3).


2007 Moray Council election
Elections to The Moray Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the Scottish Parliament election. The election was the first using the eight new wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. 26 councillors were elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system. Previously there were single-member wards which used the first past the post electoral system. The election resulted in a previously Independent council becoming an Independent/Conservative coalition, with a majority of four. An SNP victory in a subsequent by-election held in February 2008 had reduced the Independent/Conservative majority to 2 seats.


2007 Moray Council election, By-elections since 2007
On 14 February 2008, a by-election was held for the Elgin City South ward, after the death of Cllr A G K Bisset (Independent).


2007 Moray Council election, By-elections since 2007
On 11 November 2010, a by-election was held for the Forres ward, after the retirement of Cllr Iain Young (Conservative).


2007 Moroccan general election
Parliamentary elections were held in Morocco on 7 September 2007, the second of King Mohammed VI's reign. Voter turnout was estimated to be 37%, the lowest in Moroccan political history. There were 33 different parties and 13 independent candidates competing for 325 assembly seats. An amount of $61 million was allocated by the Moroccan government to organize the 2007 elections.


2007 Moroccan general election
The number of constituencies was increased from 91 to 95 before this election. Interior minister Chakib Benmoussa claimed the changes were made "in accordance with objectivity and transparency." However, BBC correspondent Richard Hamilton accused the government of gerrymandering in order to prevent the Justice and Development Party from winning.


2007 Moroccan general election
According to many analysts the complex voting system makes it almost impossible for any group to win an outright majority, although others have disagreed with this view, arguing that the electoral system is not particularly unusual and should favor large parties.. Whatever the outcome, real power will remain with the king, who is executive head of state, military chief and religious leader.


2007 Moroccan general election
For the first time in the history of elections in Morocco, they are being monitored by foreign observers including the U.S.'s National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and 42 others.


2007 Moroccan general election
Turnout in the election was only 37% - the lowest in the history of Moroccan national elections. The Socialist Union of People's Forces (USFP), the largest party in the outgoing government lost nearly a quarter of its seats, and was replaced as the largest party by its coalition partner, the Istiqlal Party. The main gainers were the pro-government liberal People's Movement and Constitutional Union parties. The opposition Islamist Justice and Development Party had a modest increase in its tally as did the pro-government leftist Party of Progress and Socialism.


2007 Moroccan general election
Following the election the USFP was expected to leave the governing coalition. Istiqlal Party leader Abbas El Fassi became PM on 19 September 2007.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict
The 2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict was a short-lived disturbance of international relations between Morocco and Spain that arose after the announcement of the impending visit of the King of Spain to the Spanish-ruled autonomous cities Ceuta and Melilla, which are claimed by Morocco.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict
The dispute formally began when the Government of Morocco recalled its ambassador to Spain, Omar Azziman. According to a diplomatic note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Morocco, "The official announcement on Friday of the unfortunate visit of His Majesty King Juan Carlos I, on 5 and 6 November to the two occupied cities of Ceuta and Melilla is a regrettable initiative, whatever are the motives and objectives."


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict
After reporting of calls of queries from the Ambassador, the Chief Moroccan Government Spokesperson said,"The ball is in the countryside of Spain and we hope that that country takes into consideration the sentiments of the Moroccan people and the interest of bilateral ties and cooperation."


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict
The royal visit occurred in the days set, registering an influx of thousands of citizens, who cheered the King in both Ceuta and Melilla. During those days continued statements against the visit were made by the Moroccan authorities. In this regard, the Prime Minister of Morocco, Abbas El Fassi, compared the situation in both cities with the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories and King Mohammed VI himself described the visit as an "outdated and nostalgic act of a dark era."


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict
The Spanish government, just before the visit, and after the reporting of the Moroccan opposition, told through the Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega that the visit of the King of Spain was an act of 'institutional normality." Days later, at the initiative of certain groups in Morocco, some hundreds of people carried out protests in Tetuan, as well as front of the border with Ceuta and Melilla. Moroccan authority also discontinued high-level visits of Spanish authorities to their country.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict
Finally, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, Miguel Angel Moratinos, visited Rabat to meet his Moroccan counterpart, Taib Fassi Fihri on January 3, 2008, and presented him a personal letter from Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to King Mohamed VI, which advocated for closer relations between both countries. Four days later, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry announced the return of its ambassador to Madrid, thus terminating the conflict.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Royal visit
On October 30, the Government of Spain announced the visit of King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia to Ceuta and Melilla from 5 and 6 November. The day before, the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, had told that fact to the opposition leader Mariano Rajoy during an official ceremony, which Rajoy welcomed.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Royal visit
The King of Spain had not visited Ceuta and Melilla in his reign. The most immediate antecedent of the stay of King Juan Carlos I in these cities dates back to 1970, when he undertook a visit to Ceuta in his capacity as Prince of Asturias on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Spanish Legion.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Royal visit
The last visit of a Head of State of Spain to Ceuta and Melilla was by king Alfonso XIII, who was last seen in 1927, and President of the Second Republic, Niceto Alcala Zamora, on 4 November 1933.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Royal visit
The king of Spain was scheduled to visit to the autonomous city of Melilla in 1997 on the occasion of the five hundredth anniversary of the founding of the city, but the pressure of the Moroccan authorities led to the cancellation of the visit.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Royal visit
On November 5, the King and the Queen of Spain stayed in Ceuta for five hours, where they spoke to the Assembly of the Autonomous City, where the monarch said that he "had an pending commitment to Ceuta". Neither the king nor the Minister of Public Administration who accompanied him, Elena Salgado, or any other Spanish authority made any mention of the situation in Morocco. The King was welcomed by 25,000 people.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Royal visit
On November 6, the king came to Melilla, in which the Spanish monarch intervened the Assembly. There he acknowledged the loyalty of Melillans to the Crown. He made specific reference to Morocco, but said that "Spain through mutual respect cultivates relations of sincere friendship with its neighbors." The number of people who gathered to welcome the King was estimated at 30,000.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Additional background of the conflict
A month before the announcement of the royal visit, the judge of the National Court of Spain, Baltasar Garzón, had opened a file to investigate an alleged genocide of Sahrawis by Morocco, accepting to process the lawsuit filed in 2006 by various associations defending human rights and relatives of prisoners and disappeared Saharawis, which accused 31 senior officials of Moroccan security. Morocco, meanwhile, was accused of siding with the positions of the Polisario Front. Moroccan spokesman said that "it would be good that Judge Garzon deal a bit of respect for human rights in Tindouf." Among the accused were Driss Basri and former Interior Minister and General Housni Benslimane.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Additional background of the conflict
As stated by Yassine Mansouri, Foreign Secret Service Chief of Morocco, during a stay in Mallorca, the deterioration of relations is also related to the active position of the Spanish Government and local authorities to untie Muslim believers of Ceuta and the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Morocco; and to bet on movements like the Tablig (Congregation for the Propagation of Islam) or the Muslim Brotherhood. Mansouri informed this to Alberto Saiz, Director of National Intelligence of Spain.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Additional background of the conflict
The position was due to the wrath of King Mohamed VI, according to Mansouri, he remembered that Moroccan King is the Commander of the Faithful and many mosques in Ceuta had been attached to the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain (UCIDE) (36 of 40 Islamic communities of Ceuta). The image of the UCID leader in Ceuta, Laarbi Maateis, is associated with radical Islamist movements by Morocco. For his part, Laarbi Maateis denied any involvement with fundamentalist movements, indicating that no member of Tablig had ever been arrested or identified as a suspect in connection with jihadism. He also said the prosecution were not understandable "because the Maliki rite is practiced both here and in the rest of Spain and Morocco and no one has tried to change that, especially because it seems to be the best for the city."


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government
The Prime Minister of Morocco, Abbas El Fassi, reported the Moroccan parliament that his government would not spare efforts to regain the two cities (Ceuta and Melilla). The next day, November 1, Abbas el Fassi asked the King of Spain to "waive" the trip, while the Minister and Speaker of the Moroccan government, Khalid Naciri, expressed the "total rejection and condemnation" of the royal visit to "despoiled Moroccan cities." Abbas el Fassi, however, at the time said the Spanish press that there was no coercion and that the conflict "must be approached with intelligence, mutual respect, dialogue and concertation."


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government
On November 5, while King Juan Carlos I was visiting Ceuta, Abbas el Fassi compared the situation of Ceuta and Melilla to the Israeli occupation of Palestine during a special session of the Moroccan Parliament to discuss the issue.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government
Decolonization continues to be topical in the few spots that remain in the world, including occupied Palestine, the cities of Ceuta and Melilla ....


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government
The same opinion was pronounced by the leader of the Moroccan Islamist Justice and Development Party, Mustafa Ramid, by manifesting in the Parliament that "the Moroccans living under Spanish colonization are as our fellow Palestinians under Israeli colonization."


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government, Manifestations of King Mohamed VI
On November 6, after holding a Council of Ministers before intervening in the acts of commemoration of the Green March in the Parliament, Moroccan King Mohamed VI issued a harsh condemnation through a personnel spokesman:


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government, Manifestations of King Mohamed VI
Strongly we express our strong condemnation and as firmly denounce this unprecedented visit. [ ...] Given this act was to overcome a nostalgic and dark era, the Spanish authorities must assume their responsibility for the consequences that could jeopardize the future and the development of relations between both countries. [ ...]


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government, Manifestations of King Mohamed VI
In the same statement Mohamed VI called for the formal opening of negotiations on the two cities:


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government, Manifestations of King Mohamed VI
It is well established that the best way to resolve conflict and manage this land requires respect for the virtues of an honest dialogue, frank and open about the future, a dialogue that ensures our right to sovereignty and to take into account the interests of Spain. [ ...] Morocco has continued to demand an end to the Spanish occupation of Ceuta and Melilla and nearby islands in the plundered north of the kingdom.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government, Reactions of the Moroccan government after the visit of the King
On 15 November, the government spokesman Khalid Naciri, after a Governing Council, stated that he hoped that the Spanish "place their hand into ours to overcome the crisis and privileging our bilateral relationship. The Spanish-Moroccan relations have undergone a crisis."


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government, Reactions of the Moroccan government after the visit of the King
Do not set a date for the return of the ambassador to Madrid, insist on the need for a dialogue between the parties about the future of the Spanish autonomous cities and it is expected for the future that "our Spanish friends will consider our feelings, our sensitivity and our claims; the purpose is not to create difficulties but to preserve our relations."


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Moroccan government, Reactions of the Moroccan government after the visit of the King
However, on 16 November, the Government of Morocco suspended two high-level visits of Spanish authorities:that of the Minister of Public Works, Magdalena Álvarez, who had planned to deal with the Moroccan Minister of Equipment and Transport Karim Ghellab about the Gibraltar rail tunnel to link the two countries across the strait (an issue on which both are officially working since 2005 when Tangier was treated evolving the fixed links between Europe and Africa and Chief of Staff of the Army of Spain, Admiral Sebastian Zaragoza.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Spanish Government
On the same day, November 1, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, Miguel Angel Moratinos, who was visiting the Moroccan city of Marrakech, reported orally to the Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri, despite the manifestations of the Prime Minister, that the King of Spain would visit the cities of Ceuta and Melilla on 5 and 6 November as planned.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Spanish Government
That same day, in the usual appearance of the Government of Spain after the conclusion of the regular meeting of the Council of Ministers, the Second Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said that relations with the Moroccan government "were extraordinary" and the journey of the Kings fell within the "institutional normality." Foreign Affairs Minister, Moratinos ruled out an action similar withdrawing the ambassador of Spain in Rabat, Spanish diplomatic sources said.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Spanish Government
On November 3, Defense Minister José Antonio Alonso, in a statement to the Cadena SER said that he hoped the gesture of calling the ambassador-step prior to the breakdown of diplomatic relations, he repeated the words said by Deputy Prime Minister the previous day on the normality of the visit.


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Position of the Spanish Government
The Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed on November 14 its confidence in the return of the Moroccan ambassador in Madrid "as soon as possible."


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Political reactions, Political reactions in Spain
The People's Party and United Left political parties, through Angel Acebes and Gaspar Llamazares, respectively, announced their support for the visit of the King of Spain to Ceuta and Melilla. Gustavo de Arístegui, of the People Party, termed Mohamed VI's reaction as "excessive" and criticized the Spanish Prime Minister for failing to make clear, in his view, the 'red lines' that Morocco could not cross. Meanwhile, Elena Valenciano, International Relations Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, stressed that the visit was part of "the most absolute institutional normality."


2007 Morocco–Spain diplomatic conflict, Political reactions, Political reactions in Spain
The President of Melilla, Juan José Imbroda, said that "it is not the time to make opposite sounding declarations", in reference to the Moroccan position. Coalition for Melilla, the prime Muslim-based opposition party in the autonomous city, manifested itself as extremely pleased with the visit the King, adding that the presence of the King of Spain was a "historic debt in this city and which, from this formation, we always advocate for the occurrence of the visit." For his part, the President of Ceuta, Juan Jesus Vivas, merely issued an edict in which he urged the citizens to welcome the King, honor him by the presence of Ceutans, and "you will honor yourselves, our city and our beloved country."


2007 Mosconi Cup
The 2007 Mosconi Cup, the 14th edition of the annual nine-ball pool competition between teams representing Europe and the United States, took place 13–16 December 2007 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.


2007 Mosconi Cup
Team Europe won the Cup for the first time since 2002, by defeating Team America 11–8. This was also the first time Team Europe won the title in the United States.


2007 Moscow Victory Day Parade
The Moscow Victory Parade of 2007 was a celebration of the 62nd anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War. It was the last time Vladimir Putin made a holiday address in his first term as president. The parade was commanded by the head of the Moscow Garrison General of the army Vladimir Bakin, and reviewing the parade was Minister of Defence Anatoliy Serdyukov .Music was performed by the Moscow Garrison's Central Orchestra under Major General Valery Khalilov.


2007 Moscow Victory Day Parade
This was the first parade that was watched by people online outside of Russia.


2007 Moscow Victory Day Parade, Parade Program
Note: Those indicated in bold indicate first parade appearance, those indicated with italic indicate double or multiple parade appearances.


2007 Moscow Victory Day Parade, Parade Program, Infantry Column
Training for the parade took place from March to April in the Alabino, Moscow Oblast.


2007 Moscow Victory Day Parade, Music
The music and marches were played by the Military Band of the Armed Forces of Russia under the direction of Major General Valery Khalilov


2007 Motor City Bowl
The 2007 Motor City Bowl, part of the 2007-08 NCAA football bowl games season, occurred on December 26, 2007 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, United States.


2007 Motor City Bowl
The Central Michigan Chippewas, who won their second straight Mid-American Conference championship on the same field on December 1, returned to take on the Purdue Boilermakers, whom bowl officials invited from the Big Ten Conference. The bowl was a rematch of a game played on September 15 in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Boilermakers won that game, 45–22. CMU had defeated Middle Tennessee in the 2006 game.


2007 Motor City Bowl
Purdue dominated the first half of the game, scoring 3 touchdowns in the first quarter to Central's 2 field goals, and by halftime they had assured a 21-point lead over the Chippewas. Central came back in the third quarter, scoring 4 touchdowns to tie the game. The final score was 51–48, with Purdue kicker Chris Summers kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired. Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter threw for 543 pass yards, setting a Motor City Bowl record and placing him fourth on the list of all-time bowl game performances. His total broke the Purdue school record.


2007 Motor City Bowl
The attendance of 60,624 broke the Motor City Bowl record, which had been set in 2006 by Central Michigan and Middle Tennessee (54,113).


2007 Motorola Indy 300
The 2007 Motorola Indy 300 was a race in the 2007 IRL IndyCar Series, held at Infineon Raceway. It was held over the weekend of 24 -August 26, 2007, as the fifteenth round of the seventeen-race calendar.


2007 Mount Union Purple Raiders football team
The 2007 Mount Union Purple Raiders Football team represented the University of Mount Union in the 2007 NCAA Division III football season. Led by veteran head coach Larry Kehres, with future NFL wide receivers Pierre Garçon and Cecil Shorts III, The Raiders completed their second consecutive undefeated regular season. The Raiders battled to the Stagg Bowl National Championship for the third consecutive year, but unlike the previous two years, the Raiders were defeated by UW-Whitewater. After the season, Garçon was be drafted in the sixth round of the NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts, for whom he started in Super Bowl XLIV, before being traded to the Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers. Shorts entered the NFL in 2011 for the Jacksonville Jaguars.


2007 Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2007 Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament took place from May 23–26. The top six regular season finishers of the league's seven teams met in the double-elimination tournament held at University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Earl Wilson Stadium. Top seeded TCU won their second straight and second overall Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship with a championship game score of 9–8 and earned the conference's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2007 Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding
The top six finishers from the regular season were seeded one through six based on conference winning percentage only. Only six teams participate, so Air Force was not in the field.


2007 Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Most Valuable Player
Austin Adams, an outfielder for the champion TCU Horned Frogs, was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.


2007 Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2007 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament was played at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada from March 8–10, 2007. Tournament host UNLV upset regular season league champion BYU 78–70 to claim the Mountain West Conference Tournament title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It was UNLV's first tournament title since winning the inaugural tournament in 2000 (though they had previously lost 3 consecutive championship games from 2002–2004).


2007 Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
2007 marked the return of the tournament to the Thomas & Mack Center after a three-year stint in Denver.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season
The 2007 Mountain West Conference football season was the ninth since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the MW. It began on August 30 when UNLV defeated Utah State. The same night, Utah fell to Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon. Brigham Young University won its fourth conference title.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
September 1, 2007 • Invesco Field at Mile High • Denver, Colorado • FSN • Attendance: 68,133


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
A Kyle Bell touchdown run with 10:05 remaining in the 3rd gave Colorado State a 28–17 lead, but a Demetrius Sumler score later in the quarter brought Colorado within 3. Buffaloes' kicker Kevin Eberhart kicked a 22-yard field goal with 13 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. The Rams had the first possession in overtime, but quarterback Caleb Hanie's pass was intercepted in the endzone. Eberhart then kicked a 35-yard field goal to win the Rocky Mountain Showdown for Colorado.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
September 1, 2007 • War Memorial Stadium • Laramie, Wyoming • Versus • Attendance: 31,620


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Cowboys' running back Devin Moore ran for 125 yards, and the Wyoming defense held Virginia to just 110 yards of total offense and only 7 rushing yards to begin their season by defeating a Cavaliers squad that would end the year 9–4 and one of the best teams in the ACC.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
September 1, 2007 • LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, Utah • Versus • Attendance: 64,525


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Max Hall threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns in his first game as full-time starter at BYU, and the Cougars' defense held Arizona to just 32 yards rushing to avenge a season-opening loss to the Wildcats a year prior.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
September 8, 2007 • Rose Bowl Stadium • Pasadena, California • Versus • Attendance: 72,986


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Despite being outgained by the Cougars 435-236, UCLA was able to capitalize on three BYU turnovers- including a 56-yard interception return for a touchdown by Trey Brown- and held on to win the first meeting of the two teams.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
September 8, 2007 • Royal-Memorial Stadium • Austin, Texas • FSN • Attendance: 84,621


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
The Horned Frogs led 10–0 at halftime on the strength of a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown by senior cornerback Torrey Stewart, but Texas began the second half with 27 unanswered points to pull away for good.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
September 13, 2007 • Falcon Stadium • Colorado Springs, Colorado • CSTV • Attendance: 31,556


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Playing another road game just four days after the Texas game, TCU quarterback Andy Dalton's touchdown pass to Walter Bryant with 13:10 left in the 4th quarter put TCU ahead 17-3, but a touchdown pass from Shaun Carney to Keith Madsen and a 71-yard touchdown run by Jim Ollis tied the score at 17 all with just over five minutes to play. In the final minute of regulation, TCU found themselves well within field goal range, but Dalton's intended pass to Jimmy Young was intercepted by Carson Bird in the endzone to force overtime. The Horned Frogs had the first possession in overtime, but kicker Chris Manfredini's 36-yard field goal attempt hit the upright. Air Force kicker Ryan Harrison then nailed a 33-yard field goal to win it for the Falcons, and the cadets rushed the field.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
September 15, 2007 • Rice-Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, Utah • Versus • Attendance: 43,056


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
After starting the season 0-2, Utes' quarterback Tommy Grady threw for 246 yards and 3 touchdowns and running back Darrell Mack ran for 107 and a score as Utah overwhelmed the Bruins to avoid an 0-3 start and turn their season around.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
September 15, 2007 • Arizona Stadium • Tucson, Arizona • FSN • Attendance: 51,996


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Donovan Porterie threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns, and the New Mexico defense held Arizona to just 38 yards rushing to give the Lobos their second victory over a Pac-10 team in school history.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
September 22, 2007 • Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas • CSTV • Attendance: 31,511


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
A blocked punt return for a touchdown by redshirt freshman Bart Johnson and a 58-yard interception return for a touchdown were enough to overcome a lackluster offensive game for the Frogs, who avenged their only loss of the 2005 season and took back the Iron Skillet from their crosstown rivals.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
September 29, 2007 • University Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico • CSTV • Attendance: 34,204


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Max Hall's 251 yards passing provided enough offense for the Cougars, who benefitted from five Lobo turnovers, to win a crucial conference road game in Albuquerque.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
October 6, 2007 • War Memorial Stadium • Laramie, Wyoming • the mtn. • Attendance: 23,007


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Wyoming kicker Billy Vinnedge's 23-yard field goal gave the Cowboys a 24–6 lead with 8:25 remaining in the 4th quarter, but TCU quarterback Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes to bring the Frogs to within 3. Another furious drive got TCU in position to send the game to overtime, but kicker Chris Manfredini's 48-yard field goal attempt missed as time expired.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
October 13, 2007 • Stanford Stadium • Palo Alto, California • Attendance: 37,777


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
One week after a near-comeback against Wyoming, TCU found themselves behind 31–17 to Stanford, who had upset #1 USC the week before. This time, however, the Frogs comeback was successful, fueled by touchdown passes from Dalton to Jimmy Young and Aaron Brown, as well as a touchdown run by Brown.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
October 25, 2007 • University Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico • Versus • Attendance: 26,087


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Rodney Ferguson ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns, and kicker John Sullivan hit two fourth-quarter field goals as the Lobos overcame a 31–28 deficit late in the third quarter to defeat the Falcons.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
November 8, 2007 • LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, Utah • Versus • Attendance: 64,241


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Max Hall passed for 305 yards and a touchdown and BYU's defense came up with two sacks in an 11-second span late in the 4th quarter to seal a 27–22 victory. Andy Dalton's touchdown pass to Bart Johnson with 3:49 remaining cut the Cougars' lead to 5, but then David Nixon sacked Andy Dalton on second down on the Frogs' last possession, then on fourth-and-8, Bryan Kehl pounced on Dalton as he lost his footing with 1:58 left. The Cougars ran out the clock and won for the 10th straight time at home.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
November 10, 2007 • Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, Indiana • NBC • Attendance: 80,795


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Air Force's Chad Hall ran for 142 yards, and the Falcons' defense held the Irish to just 58 yards on the ground to hand Notre Dame their most lopsided loss to a service academy since 1963.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
November 23, 2007 • Hughes Stadium • Fort Collins, Colorado • the mtn. • Attendance: 18,827


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Caleb Hanie threw for 245 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Rams' to their 3rd Border War win in 4 years and regain the Bronze Boot from the Cowboys. The loss ended all hope Wyoming had for making a bowl game.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
November 24, 2007 • LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, Utah • Versus • Attendance: 64,749


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable Games
Freshman running back Harvey Unga rushed for 141 yards and scored the winning touchdown for BYU on an 11-yard run with 38 seconds remaining as the Cougars defeated the Utes in thrilling fashion in the Holy War and also wrapped up their second straight conference title.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl Games, Poinsettia Bowl
December 20, 2007 • Qualcomm Stadium • San Diego, California • ESPN


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl Games, Poinsettia Bowl
In the first bowl game of the 2007 season, the Utes' quarterback Brian Johnson threw for 226 yards as the Utah was able to outlast the 316 yards of rushing offense built up by the Midshipmen. It was Utah's seventh consecutive bowl victory, a streak that dates back to 1999.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl Games, New Mexico Bowl
December 22, 2007 • University Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico • ESPN


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl Games, New Mexico Bowl
For the second year in a row, the Lobos were invited to play in their hometown bowl game. This time, however, they emerged victorious. It was their first bowl victory since 1961, snapping a five-game losing streak. Quarterback Donovan Porterie threw for 354 yards to earn MVP honors.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl Games, Las Vegas Bowl
December 22, 2007 • Sam Boyd Stadium • Las Vegas, Nevada • ESPN


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl Games, Las Vegas Bowl
The Cougars and the Bruins had met in the regular season on September 8, with UCLA claiming victory, 27–17. In front of the Las Vegas Bowl's fifth consecutive sell-out, however, the Cougars won the rematch 17-16, as Eathyn Manumaleuna blocked UCLA kicker Kai Forbath's last-second field goal to preserve victory.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl Games, Texas Bowl
December 28, 2007 • Reliant Stadium • Houston, Texas • NFL Network


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl Games, Texas Bowl
In a rematch of former Southwest Conference rivals, TCU overcame a 10–7 halftime lead and then held back a last-minute rally by the Cougars to win their third consecutive bowl game, 20-13. Freshman quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 249 yards to earn MVP honors, while the TCU defense held Houston to just 32 yards rushing.


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl Games, Armed Forces Bowl
December 31, 2007 • Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas • ESPN


2007 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl Games, Armed Forces Bowl
Making their first bowl appearance since 2002, Air Force jumped out to a 21-0 lead to start the game. But then the Cal offense got going, with quarterback Kevin Riley throwing for 269 yards and 3 touchdowns and running back Justin Forsett running for 140 yards and two scores. This was the MW's only loss of the 2007 bowl season.


2007 Movistar Open
The 2007 Movistar Open was a professional men's tennis event on the 2007 ATP Tour in Viña del Mar, Chile, held from 29 January to 4 February 2007. It was the 15th edition of the tournament and was part of the ATP International Series of the 2007 ATP Tour. This was the second tournament of the season (alongside Adelaide, Delray Beach, Buenos Aires and Las Vegas) that implemented a 24-player Round Robin tournament for the singles competition, as part of the round-robin trials proposed during this season. Fifth-seeded Luis Horna won the singles title.


2007 Movistar Open, Finals, Doubles
Paul Capdeville /  Óscar Hernández defeated  Álbert Montañés /  Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo 4–6, 6–4, [10–6]


2007 Movistar Open – Doubles
José Acasuso and Sebastián Prieto were the defending champions, but Acasuso did not participate this year. Prieto partnered Martín García, losing in the first round.


2007 Movistar Open – Doubles
Paul Capdeville and Óscar Hernández won the title, defeating Albert Montañés and Rubén Ramírez-Hidalgo 4–6, 6–4, [10–6] in the final.


2007 Movistar Open – Singles
José Acasuso was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year.


2007 Movistar Open – Singles
Luis Horna won the title, defeating Nicolás Massú in the final, 7–5, 6–3.


2007 Mozambican flood
The 2007 Mozambican flood began in late December 2006 when the Cahora Bassa Dam overflowed from heavy rains on Southern Africa. It worsened on February 22, 2007, when the Category 4 Cyclone Favio made landfall on the central province of Inhambane; experts tracking the cyclone predicted that it would worsen flooding in the Zambezi River valley. The Zambezi River broke its banks, flooding the surrounding areas in Mozambique. The Chire and Rivubue rivers also flooded.


2007 Mozambican flood
80,600 people had been evacuated from their homes in the Tete, Manica, Sofala and Zambezia provinces by February 14. By February 22, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that approximately 121,000 people had been displaced by the flooding. Some people refused to leave their homes and livestock. There were 29 confirmed casualties and a further 10 unconfirmed deaths.


2007 Mozambican flood
In early February, the Mozambican authorities did not think the flooding would be as devastating as the 2000 and 2001 floods. Paulo Zucula, head of Mozambique's national relief agency, said "We expect more water than we had in 2001. The situation is deteriorating and it will get worse but this time we are better prepared than in 2001". The World Food Program (WFP) estimated that up to 285,000 people may require food aid. Delivery of food aid by the WFP began on February 15. A single UN helicopter was made available for the delivery of aid to evacuation centres. However, thousands of people had not yet received food or drinking water, and the threat of disease outbreaks had also increased; Paulo Zucula retracted his earlier comments about readiness, saying "We were not prepared... it's another disaster".


2007 Mr. Olympia
The 2007 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition and the feature event of Joe Weider's Olympia Weekend 2007 held September 28–29, 2007 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.


2007 Ms. Olympia
The 2007 Ms. Olympia contest is an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition and part of Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend 2007 was held on September 27, 2007, at the South Hall in the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada and in the Orleans Arena at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada. It was the 28th Ms. Olympia competition held. Other events at the exhibition include the Mr. Olympia, Fitness Olympia, and Figure Olympia contests.


2007 MuchMusic Video Awards
The 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards were held in Toronto, Ontario at MuchMusic's headquarters on June 17, 2007 and featured performances by Fergie, Maroon 5, The Used, Avril Lavigne, Finger Eleven, Hilary Duff, and others. The most nominated artists were Billy Talent  and Nickelback with five nominations each.


2007 Mukō city assembly election
Mukō, Kyoto Prefecture held an election for the city assembly on August 5, 2007. 24 seats where contested by 25 candidates.


2007 Mukō city assembly election, Results
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2007 Munster Senior Hurling Championship Final
The 2007 Munster Senior Hurling Championship Final was a Hurling match played on 8 July 2007 at Semple Stadium, Thurles, County Tipperary. It was contested by Limerick and Waterford. Waterford claimed their third Munster Championship of the decade, beating Limerick on a scoreline of 3-17 to 1-14, a 9-point winning margin. Overall, this was Waterford's eighth Munster Senior Hurling Championship.


2007 Murcian regional election
The 2007 Murcian regional election was held on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect the 7th Regional Assembly of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. All 45 seats in the Regional Assembly were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.


2007 Murcian regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The Regional Assembly of Murcia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Murcia, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Murcian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.


2007 Murcian regional election, Overview, Electoral system
Voting for the Regional Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Region of Murcia and in full enjoyment of their political rights. The 45 members of the Regional Assembly of Murcia were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, which were established by law as follows:


2007 Murcian regional election, Overview, Electoral system
Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of one seat, with the remaining 40 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations.


2007 Murcian regional election, Overview, Election date
The term of the Regional Assembly of Murcia expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Regional Assembly were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 25 May 2003, setting the election date for the Regional Assembly on Sunday, 27 May 2007.


2007 Murcian regional election, Overview, Election date
The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Regional Assembly of Murcia and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election was due and some time requirements were met: namely, that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution under this procedure.


2007 Murcian regional election, Overview, Election date
In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Regional Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.


2007 Murcian regional election, Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the Region of Murcia, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.


2007 Murcian regional election, Parties and candidates
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:


2007 Murcian regional election, Opinion polls
The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 23 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Regional Assembly of Murcia.


2007 Music City Bowl
The 2007 Music City Bowl was the 10th edition of the Music City Bowl, and it was played on December 31, 2007. Part of the 2007–2008 bowl season, it featured the Kentucky Wildcats and the Florida State Seminoles. Both teams entered the game with a 7–5 overall record and a 4–4 conference record; Florida State had been ranked as high as #19 in the season's AP polls, appearing in the rankings for two weeks that season. Kentucky had been ranked as high as #8 (twice) in the season's AP polls and had been ranked for eight weeks during the season. Sponsored by Gaylord Hotels and Bridgestone, it was officially named the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl presented by Bridgestone.


2007 Music City Bowl
The Seminoles came into the game without 34 players due to various injuries, violations of team rules, and a large academic cheating scandal. For the Wildcats, this was déjà vu all over again, as they had played in last year's edition of the game, entered it with the same 7–5 overall record, and faced an Atlantic Coast Conference team coached by a Bowden, namely the Clemson team coached by Tommy Bowden, son of longtime FSU head coach Bobby Bowden.


2007 Music City Bowl
In the first quarter, Kentucky scored first on a 14-yard André Woodson touchdown pass to tight end Jacob Tamme. Florida State quarterback Drew Weatherford then scored on a 6-yard touchdown run. Kentucky built a 14–7 lead in the second quarter on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Woodson to Steve Johnson. Kentucky's defense then held Florida State to a turnover on downs inside the Kentucky five yard line, but immediately after that Florida State tied the game before halftime when Tony Carter intercepted a Woodson pass and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown.


2007 Music City Bowl
Kentucky struck first in the third quarter when Woodson threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Rafael Little. A 4-yard touchdown run by Tony Dixon boosted Kentucky's third quarter lead to 28–14. Florida State scored first in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard Weatherford touchdown run to make it 28–21. Woodson's 38-yard touchdown pass to Steve Johnson extended the Kentucky lead to 35–21. The game's final score was a 7-yard touchdown pass from Weatherford to Greg Carr to bring about the final tally: Kentucky 35, Florida State 28.


2007 Music City Bowl
The game appeared iced when Kentucky linebacker Micah Johnson intercepted a Weatherford pass with less than one minute remaining, but in attempting to return the interception Johnson fumbled the ball away and Florida State recovered. Florida State threw a pass into the end zone at the end of regulation but Kentucky defenders batted it down to seal the win.


2007 Music City Bowl
The attendance of 68,661 set a new record for the Music City Bowl.


2007 Music City Bowl
In Kentucky's 35–28 victory, 2006 game MVP André Woodson repeated as the 2007 MVP after throwing four touchdown passes. Florida State's Antone Smith gained a career-high 156 rushing yards; Kentucky's Rafael Little rushed for 152 yards and caught one touchdown pass, but he also fumbled twice. The win gave the Wildcats back-to-back bowl wins for the first time since 1952. It was also the first loss ever for the elder Bowden in a December bowl game.


2007 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid
The 2007 Madrid Masters (also known as the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 6th edition of the Madrid Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2007 ATP Tour. It took place at the Madrid Arena in Madrid, Spain, from October 15 through October 21, 2007.


2007 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid
The announced field was led by World No. 1, Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open winner and defending champion Roger Federer, ATP No. 2 and French Open winner Rafael Nadal, and US Open runner-up and Vienna titlist Novak Djokovic. Other top players were US Open semifinalist and Moscow winner Nikolay Davydenko, Australian Open runner up and Beijing titlist Fernando González, James Blake, David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo.


2007 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid, Notable stories, Nalbandian's achievements
David Nalbandian, who prior to the tournament had not reached the semifinal stage of a tournament in the season, suddenly began playing superlative tennis, repeating Novak Djokovic's feat of the Canada Masters, of beating the world's top three players in three consecutive days, with Nalbandian doing it in order of 2 (Rafael Nadal), 3 (Novak Djokovic) and 1 (Roger Federer). The win also marked Nalbandian's first ever Masters Series title, though he had won the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.


2007 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid, Finals, Doubles
Bob Bryan /  Mike Bryan defeated  Mariusz Fyrstenberg /  Marcin Matkowski 6–3, 7–6(7–4)


2007 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid – Doubles
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were the defending champions, and won in the final 6–3, 7–6(7–4), against Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.


2007 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid – Singles
David Nalbandian defeated the defending champion Roger Federer in the final, 1–6, 6–3, 6–3 to win the Singles title at the 2007 Madrid Open. He achieved the rare feat of defeating the world's top 3 players in the same tournament, also defeating Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic en route to the title. He joined Djokovic and Boris Becker in achieving the feat, and became the only player to defeat the Big Three in the same tournament.


2007 Myanmar Premier League
Statistics of the Myanmar Premier League in the 2007 season.


2007 NAB Cup
The 2007 NAB Cup was the pre-season competition of the Australian Football League's 2007 season. It culminated in the grand final on 17 March, which was won by Carlton.


2007 NAB Cup, Prize money
A$220,000 was awarded to the winning club (by comparison, the prize money for the winner of the AFL Grand Final in 2005 was only nominally larger at $250,000). Smaller amounts were awarded to clubs based on participation and progression through the competition.


2007 NAB Cup, Prize money
It was announced that if a club could win both the pre-season and regular premierships in the same season, that the club would receive a bonus $1 million. Half will be distributed among the players, while the other half goes to the club. The last club to win the double was Essendon in 2000.


2007 NACAC Championships in Athletics
The 2007 North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships was a regional track and field competition held at the Flor Blanca National Stadium in San Salvador, El Salvador, from July 13–15, 2007. It was the inaugural edition of a senior track and field championship for the NACAC region. A total of forty-three events were contested, 22 by male and 21 by female athletes.


2007 NACAC Championships in Athletics
The championships served as preparation for the 2007 Pan American Games, held later that month, for many of the senior athletes. Canada and Cuba, two of the region's strongest countries in the sport, did not send a delegation to participate. One further event—the women's 10,000 metres—was initially scheduled for the championships, but was subsequently not held in San Salvador.


2007 NACAC Championships in Athletics
The United States sent the largest contingent to the competition and, although many were developmental athletes, Americans dominated the competition, winning twenty-eight of the events and fifteen minor medals for a total of 43. Mexico were the next best performers, claiming four golds, fourteen silvers and two bronze medals. Trinidad and Tobago took three golds in their eleven medal haul, while the hosts El Salvador also won three events.


2007 NACAC Championships in Athletics
Mary Jayne Harrelson completed an 800/1500 metres double win. Americans Calvin Smith Jr. and Debbie Dunn took the 400 metres individual titles, before going on the help the relay teams to another gold. Cristina López of El Salvador won the 10 km walk title and went on to win Pan American gold later that month. The NACAC high jump silver medallist Romary Rifka improved to the gold at that tournament.


2007 NACAC Championships in Athletics – Results
These are the official results of the 2007 North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships which took place on July 13–15, 2007 in San Salvador, El Salvador.


2007 NACAC Combined Events Championships
The 2007 NACAC Combined Events Championships were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, at the Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez on May 26–27, 2007. A detailed report on the event and an appraisal of the results was given.


2007 NACAC Combined Events Championships, Participation
An unofficial count yields the participation of 27 athletes from 10 countries.


2007 NACAC Cross Country Championships
The 2007 NACAC Cross Country Championships took place on March 3, 2007. The races were held at the United States Triathlon National Training Center in Clermont, Florida, United States. Detailed reports of the event were given.


2007 NACAC Cross Country Championships, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 124 athletes from 16 countries participated.


2007 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2007 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Men's Division I  Basketball Tournament was held from March 14 to 20 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. This was the 70th annual NAIA basketball tournament and features 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This tournament had the most total points scored for both teams in one game in the history of the NAIA tournament. Totaling 243pts when Concordia (CA) got 124pts and beat Robert Morris (IL) who has 119pts. That game went into 4 overtimes. (The longest game was a 5OT game back in 1978 when Grand Canyon beat Central State (OH) 88-82.) Concordia would go on to be the 2007 runner-up to Oklahoma City University. Oklahoma City University would beat Concordia 79 to 71.


2007 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2007 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship was held in March at Keeter Gymnasium in Point Lookout, Missouri. The 16th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.


2007 NAIA Football National Championship
The 2007 NAIA Football Championship Series concluded on December 15, 2007 with the championship game played at Jim Carroll Stadium in Savannah, Tennessee. The championship was won by the Carroll Fighting Saints over the Sioux Falls Cougars by a score of 17–9.


2007 NAIA football rankings
One human poll made up the 2007 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) football rankings, sometimes called the NAIA Coaches' Poll or the football ratings. Once the regular season was complete, the NAIA sponsored a 16-team playoff to determine the year's national champion. A final poll was then taken after completion of the 2007 NAIA Football National Championship.


2007 NAIA football rankings, Leading vote-getters
Since the inception of the Coaches' Poll in 1999, the #1 ranking in the various weekly polls has been held by only a select group of teams. Through the postseason poll of the 2007 season, the teams and the number of times they have held the #1 weekly ranking are shown below. The number of times a team has been ranked #1 in the postseason poll (the national champion) is shown in parentheses.


2007 NAIA football rankings, Leading vote-getters
In 1999, the results of a postseason poll, if one was conducted, are not known. Therefore, an additional poll has been presumed, and the #1 postseason ranking has been credited to the postseason tournament champion, the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series
The 2007 NASCAR Busch East Series was the 21st season of the Busch East Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR. The season consisted of thirteen races and began on April 28 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway with the Greased Lightning 150. The season finale, the Sunoco 150, was held on September 21 at Dover International Speedway. Mike Olsen entered the season as the defending drivers' champion. Joey Logano won the championship, 166 points in front of Sean Caisse.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series
This season was the last season with Anheuser-Busch's Busch Beer as the series' title sponsor after a 21-year relationship. Busch was replaced by Camping World as the title sponsor for 2008.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series
By virtue of NASCAR's lower age limit of 16 starting this year for its touring series, Logano became the youngest champion of the series at that time. He started the season when he was just 16 years old, and turned 17 during the season on May 24. The lowering of the age limit in 2007 was instrumental in the future of the series, as most of the drivers who compete in the East Series now are teenagers. The age limit would eventually be lowered again to 15, which is what it is today.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, Schedule
* Races will air on delay only. All HDNet races will air live and re-air on SPEED.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, Schedule, Television
Both HDNet and SPEED returned to broadcast most of the races. HDNet broadcast nine of the races, including the final seven, live in high definition. Speed aired three of the remaining four races by a broadcast delay. All of the races shown on HDNet were also re-broadcast in standard definition on Speed.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, Greased Lightning 150
The Greased Lightning 150 was run on April 28 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, SC. Joey Logano sat on the pole for the event and went on to win the event. This marked Logano's first pole and first win in the series in his first start.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, Greased Lightning 150
Did not Qualify: (8) Jonathan Cash (#59), Jonathan Smith (#5), Pierre Bourque (#7), James Pritchard Jr. (#41), Jeremy Clark (#25), Tim Cowen (#75), Glenn Sullivan (#15), Blair Addis (#8)


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, Greased Lightning 150
Notes: Logano's win in his first start in the series made him the first driver to repeat this feat since Kip Stockwell got his only win in his first start in the series at Thunder Road International SpeedBowl in 1997.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, Minnesota 150
The Minnesota 150 took place on May 18 at Elko Speedway in Elko, Minnesota. This race marked the first time that the East and West series would meet during the regular season for a points race. Sean Caisse took the pole and went on to win the race. Only he and fellow East series competitor Mike Olsen would lead the race.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, Minnesota 150
Did not Qualify: (16) Ryan Foster (#21W), John Salemi (#63E), Stan Silva Jr. (#65W), Eric Richardson (#20W), Jim Inglebright (#1W), Scott Bouley (#26E), Chase Austin (#64E), Dion Ciccarelli (#84E), Germán Quiroga (#12E), Lloyd Mack (#09W), Jack Sellers (#15W), Blair Addis (#3E), Daryl Harr (#71W), Jerick Johnson (76E), Mike Gallegos (#77W), Pierre Bourque (#7E)


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, Minnesota 150
Note: Both series would meet again 2 days later for the second and final combination race at Iowa Speedway


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, Featherlite Coaches 200
The Featherlite Coaches 200 was run on May 5 at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. This race, sponsored by Featherlite Coaches, was the second and final meeting between the East and West series during the regular season. Kevin Harvick was on hand to take part in the race. Harvick would narrowly take the pole over Joey Logano. These two drivers would proceed to swap the lead 15 times between the two of them. In the end, it would be Logano taking the win over the Nextel Cup star.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, Featherlite Coaches 200
Did not Qualify: (10)  Chase Austin (68 E), Mike Gallegos (77 W), Stan Silva Jr. (65 W), Chris Bristol (12 E), Kyle Cattanach (59 W), Jerick Johnson (76 E), Scott Bouley (26 E), Tim Woods III (54 W), Jack Sellers (15 W), Trevor Bayne (00 E)


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, South Boston 150
The South Boston 150 was run on June 2 at the South Boston Speedway in South Boston, Virginia. Peyton Sellers, who was the track's Late Model champion in 2005 en route to winning the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series title and also has a grandstand at the track named after him took the pole in qualifying. The race turned into a two-man race between Sellers and Matt Kobyluck swapping the lead for eleven of the twelve lead changes. Sellers lead a race high of 101 laps while Kobyluck lead 46.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, South Boston 150
Sean Caisse would be the only other driver to lead during the race when he managed to jump into the lead for the first three laps. With restarts coming with 10 laps to go and again at 4 to go, Kobyluck was able to maintain the lead and go on to win his first race of the season.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, TSI Harley-Davidson 150
The TSI Harley-Davidson 150 took place on June 6 at Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford, Connecticut. Sean Caisse would sit on the pole for the first time this season, but it would be Eddie MacDonald, who was making his first start of the season that would go on to take the win in grand fashion by leading the final 81 laps.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, New England 125
The New England 125 took place on June 6 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Joey Logano took the pole and went on to lead the most laps en route to his third win of the series. Series veteran Brad Leighton was in contention until he was deemed to have jumped the final restart leading to a green-white-checkered finish and subsequently was black flagged. Rather than risk disqualification, Leighton gave the lead back to Logano and would have to settle for a second-place finish.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, 2007 Series Races, Pepsi Racing 100
The Pepsi Racing 100 was run on July 14, at Thompson International Speedway in Thompson, CT.   Sean Caisse would sit on the pole and nearly lead flag to flag in the race that was extended to 108 laps due to late race cautions that required two green-white-checkered attempts to end the race. Caisse only relinquished the lead for two laps en route to his second win of the season, breaking a four race streak of bad luck.


2007 NASCAR Busch East Series, Points Standings
There are the final points standings for the 2007 season.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series
The 2007 NASCAR Busch Series was the twenty-sixth season of the NASCAR Busch Series. It began on February 17 with the Orbitz 300 at Daytona International Speedway and concluded on November 17 with the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Carl Edwards clinched the Busch Series championship on November 3 during the O'Reilly Challenge with 2 races remaining. The 2007 season was the final season of the series under Anheuser-Busch's sponsorship. In 2008, the Busch Series became the NASCAR Nationwide Series sponsored by insurance company Nationwide Insurance with a $70 million contract for 7 years.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Top stories, Buschwhackers
The domination of the series by "Buschwhackers" continued in 2007. In the first 28 races, only two drivers not with regular Nextel Cup Series schedules drove their cars to victory from start to finish: Stephen Leicht (Meijer 300, Kentucky Speedway) and Jason Leffler (Kroger 200, O'Reilly Raceway Park). A third, Aric Almirola, was the official winner of the AT&T 250 at the Milwaukee Mile; Almirola qualified the car for Denny Hamlin who was racing at Sonoma in the Cup Series and was not scheduled to start, but was forced to as Hamlin was delayed in returning from Sonoma. Hamlin was placed in the car after arriving and drove nearly the entire race, winning, but he failed to receive credit because he failed to start.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Top stories, Buschwhackers
Meanwhile, Carl Edwards led Kevin Harvick by 733 points in the championship standings, a reversal from 2006 when Harvick beat Edwards by a record 824 points. At one time, Edwards' lead was 871 points prior to a stretch of five consecutive races outside the top 10 in the finishing order (in three of those races he finished 23rd or worse). There were more Busch only regulars near the top of the standings, but only because the Cup drivers ran fewer cumulative races than in 2006.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Top stories, Owner's Championship
The Owner's Championship went to the No. 29 car of Richard Childress Racing driven by Scott Wimmer and Jeff Burton. This is currently only the second time in Busch Series history where the driver's and owner's points champions were different. The other instance also involved RCR and happened in 2003. Hendrick Motorsports driver Brian Vickers won the series points title as a driver, but RCR's No. 21 car earned more total points with Johnny Sauter and Kevin Harvick sharing the ride.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Top stories, 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series
After 26 years of Anheuser-Busch sponsoring the series with their Busch Beer brand they decided not to renew their sponsorship for the 2008 season. Rumored sponsorship deals for the series included Subway, KFC, and Wal-Mart; however, those deals fell through. On October 3, 2007, chairman Brian France announced that insurance company Nationwide had signed a seven-year $70 million deal to sponsor the series. Nationwide also replaces Allstate as the official insurance company of NASCAR.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Schedule
The official 2007 Busch Series schedule was announced on October 2, 2006. The only major schedule change was the addition of the first NASCAR race in Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which replaces last year's race at Martinsville. This marked the first time in Busch Series history that there are two consecutive road courses on the schedule. The order of races in July was also shuffled.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Schedule
ESPN2 covered the majority of the Busch Series in 2007 with ESPN on ABC covering six races as part of the new television package. The primary commentators for ESPN were Jerry Punch, Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Orbitz 300
The Orbitz 300 was held February 16 at Daytona International Speedway. Aric Almirola won the pole. Kevin Harvick won a relatively quick race from the 31st starting position. There were two early cautions: the first one on lap 4 for a three-car incident and the second one for "the Big One" on lap 16 involving 12 cars. The race was clean afterward. This was the first race televised on ESPN2 as part of the 2007 television package that lasted until 2014.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Orbitz 300
Did not qualify: No. 1-J. J. Yeley, No. 22-David Stremme, No. 23-Brad Keselowski, No. 24-Casey Mears, No. 52-Brad Teague, No. 70-Justin Diercks


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Stater Brothers 300
The Stater Brothers 300 was held February 24 at California Speedway. Dave Blaney won the pole, the first pole for Toyota in the Busch Series. The race had a short field of only 41 cars.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Telcel-Motorola México 200
The Telcel-Motorola México 200 was held March 4 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The race was broadcast on ESPN2 in English and en español on ESPN Deportes. Scott Pruett won the pole. Juan Pablo Montoya made contact with his leading teammate Scott Pruett on a restart after coming back from a fuel-filler problem, spinning Pruett and going on to win the race, becoming the first non-American to win a NASCAR race since Ron Fellows in 2001.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Sam's Town 300
The Sam's Town 300 was held March 10 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick won the pole. In a challenging race that was held on a newly banked racetrack, many teams, especially cup teams with drivers racing on Sunday, tried to find a setup that would work with their cars. Grip and aerodynamics became major issues as the race set a record for number of caution flags with 12 for 58 laps. This included a red flag with 10 laps to go for a hard crash into the wall by Reed Sorenson.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Sam's Town 300
Las Vegas natives, Kyle and Kurt Busch dominated the race, leading 123 of 200 laps, with 81 and 42 led respectively. However, Jeff Burton had been consistently quicker than the younger Busch and had taken the lead for 31 laps. Coming to the checkers, two-time Las Vegas winner Jeff Burton took his No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevy to the outside and banged fenders with Kyle who got loose under Burton and spun down on the apron and hit the outside wall after taking the second position. Out of respect for Busch leaving him room to pass, Jeff Burton pulled alongside Kyle's wrecked car to shake hands with him before going to victory lane and receive his checkered flag. This was the first NASCAR race broadcast on ABC since the 2000 Brickyard 400 seven years earlier.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Sam's Town 300
Note: No. 52-Kevin Lepage withdrew from the race prior to qualifying.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Nicorette 300
The Nicorette 300 was held March 17 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch won the pole. From the drop of the green flag, it appeared as though Kyle Busch would walk away with an easy victory. He proved his dominance by leading 143 of 195 laps. However, a loose lugnut after the final pit stop forced Busch to go to the tail end of the longest line, handing the lead to Jeff Burton. Burton would hold off RCR teammate Kevin Harvick for the win while Kyle Busch rallied to third after his penalty.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Sharpie Mini 300
The Sharpie Mini 300 was held March 24 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Steve Wallace won his first career pole. This would be the last Busch Series race before Bristol would be repaved with new concrete and progressive banking. For the second consecutive week, Kyle Busch again proved he had the car to beat. He and series points leader Carl Edwards proved they had the cars to beat. The biggest controversy of the race came after a crash at lap 182 by David Reutimann.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Sharpie Mini 300
At the point of the crash, some of the leaders elected to come down pit road for tires and some gas on lap 188. Although the electronic light was green, signaling that pit road was open, the flagman near the light was still waving the pit road closed flag. The pit crews of Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. argued with NASCAR officials about the call. Eventually, NASCAR controversially decided to let all of the cars pit and maintain their position in the field. After the confusion was sorted out, Busch took off with Edwards in pursuit.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Sharpie Mini 300
However, Mike Wallace, running on the tail end of the lead lap (Mike was in front of the leader), jumbled up the 9th restart. Mike's mistake forced Edwards into the rear bumper of Kyle Busch. Edwards would inherit the lead and would hold off teammate Matt Kenseth for his first win since Gateway in 2006.


2007 NASCAR Busch Series, Races, Pepsi 300
The Pepsi 300 was held April 7 at Nashville Superspeedway. David Stremme won the pole. From the drop of the green flag, it appeared as though new manufacturer Toyota would steal the show and walk off with its first Busch Series win. However, Carl Edwards spoiled the party, coming back from a loose wheel penalty to pass Busch regular Jason Leffler with 25 laps to go to win his second consecutive race and extend his points lead.