Monday, May 9, 2005
Kimi Raikkonen led all the way in winning the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona yesterday, denying Fernando Alonso a fourth straight victory before a home crowd of 115,000 that included King Juan Carlos .
Raikkonen, on the pole in his McLaren-Mercedes, won for the third time in his Formula One career. Alonso, in a Renault, was trying to become the first Spaniard to capture his national race since it was first run 54 years ago.
"Second place here at home is like a victory for me," said Alonso, acknowledging Raikkonen's strong performance. "I was thinking that it was not possible to follow him, he was too quick."
Seven-time series champion Michael Schumacher was forced out after 46 laps when his Ferrari went to the pits with a flat tire.
Schumacher has not won in six straight races, matching his longest winless streak since he joined Ferrari in 1996. His last victory was in the Japanese Grand Prix, the next-to-last race of last season. He won 13 times in 2004.
Raikkonen never trailed for the 66 laps, coming out ahead of the pack after both pit spots at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Raikkonen's time was 1 hour 27 minutes 16.830 seconds. Alonso finished 27.6 seconds behind, and Jarno Trulli was third.
"I just kept the pace, I didn't go full speed and I won quite easily," said Raikkonen. . . .
When a late caution forced teams to gamble on pit strategy in the Dodge Charger 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on Saturday night, Ryan Newman made the wrong decision and stayed out on the track. The contenders behind him all stopped for new tires, and used the fresh rubber to blow past Newman on the restart.
The result was Greg Biffle winning his third race of the season while Newman faded back to a fifth-place finish.
Newman had seized the lead from Biffle and was cruising to his first win of the season. No one was even close to catching him.
But with less than five laps to go, Mark Martin lost control of his car to bring out a caution.
"There was no question we were coming for tires," Biffle said. But Newman wasn't so sure of what to do.
As the leader, he knew all the drivers behind him were watching and waiting for his decision. If he ducked off the track for tires, there was no guarantee anyone else would. Newman would be shuffled back into the pack without enough time left to race back to the front.
And he knew if he decided against taking tires, several cars would surely stop and hope the fresh Goodyears would propel them past Newman in the two-lap dash to the finish.
· HOCKEY: U.S. captain Mike Modano had a goal and an assist to help the Americans snap Sweden's four-game winning streak with a 5-1 victory at the hockey world championships in Innsbruck, Austria.
Mike Knuble added a goal and an assist, and Yan Stastny , Erik Cole and Brian Gionta also found the net for the United States, which tied Canada in the Group F standings at five points apiece.
In a matchup of undefeated teams, Russia edged the Czech Republic, 2-1, in Vienna to take the lead in Group E.
Also, two-time defending champion Canada tied Finland, 3-3; Slovakia beat Switzerland, 3-1; and Denmark edged Austria, 4-3, in a relegation-round game.
· TENNIS: Rafael Nadal won his toughest test to date, taking his third-straight clay-court title by edging French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria , 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-6), at the Rome Masters in a match that lasted more than five hours.
Nadal appeared exhausted and debilitated from blisters to his playing hand when he fell behind 0-3 in the fifth set.
Somehow, the 18-year-old Spaniard found the energy to rally for yet another victory, just as he fought back from first-set losses in his previous two matches.
"This was the toughest match of my life," Nadal said. . . .
In Berlin, Justine Henin-Hardenne captured the German Open, stretching her winning streak to 17 matches with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Russia's Nadia Petrova .
Henin-Hardenne improved her record to 20-1 since returning in March after a virus and a knee injury cost her most of the 2004 season.
· SOCCER: Landon Donovan scored two goals on penalty kicks in the final four minutes of regulation, leading the Los Angeles Galaxy to a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rapids in Carson, Calif. . . .
David Trezeguet scored on a header in the 28th minute, leading Juventus into sole possession of first place in the Italian league with a 1-0 victory over AC Milan. . . . Arsenal beat Liverpool, 3-1, in the English Premier League, guaranteeing fourth-place Everton a spot in next season's Champions League. . . . Barcelona closed in on its first Spanish league title since 1999 by beating defending champion Valencia, 2-0.
-- From News Services
