Prost Wins Grand Prix Race Running on Fumes

Defending world champion Alain Prost of France, draining the few drops of gasoline left in his McLaren-TAG car, outdistanced Nelson Piquet of Brazil and won the Grand Prix of San Marino Sunday at Imola, Italy.

The 31-year-old Frenchman, in posting the 22nd Grand Prix victory of his career, zigzagged through the last two bends to get the maximum out of his remaining fuel.

“I faced a big scare when I realized I was running out of gas in the very last lap,” Prost said. “The computer signaled I still had three liters, but it was incorrect.”

Piquet finished 7.64 seconds behind but moved into a tie for the lead in the world championship standings after three races. He has 15 points, the same as his younger Brazilian rival, Ayrton Senna, who withdrew after 12 laps with a wheel bearing failure.

Prost, who is third with 13 points, and Piquet were the only drivers to complete the 60 laps.

Austrian Gerhard Berger’s Benetton-BMW was third, and Sweden’s Stefan Johansson ran fourth in a Ferrari.

Prost’s Finnish teammate, Keke Rosberg, who was trailing him in second place from the 33rd lap, ran out of gas with two laps left, spoiling a 1-2 finish for the McLaren-TAG team. Rosberg took fifth.