MOTOR RACING ROUNDUP : Senna Spins Out Again and Schumacher Wins

Michael Schumacher took the lead when pole-sitter Ayrton Senna spun out seconds after the start and held on to win the Pacific Grand Prix Formula One race Sunday at Aida, Japan.

Senna spun out as the cars approached the initial curve and his Williams-Renault was sideswiped by the Ferrari driven by Nicola Larini. Neither driver was hurt but both cars were finished.

The victory was the second in as many races for Schumacher, who guided his Benetton-Ford to victory last month in Brazil after Senna had spun. Sunday, Schumacher completed the 83-lap race in 1 hour, 46 minutes at an average speed of 108.69 mph.

Gerhard Berger of Austria, driving a Ferrari, finished second, 1 minute, 15.300 seconds behind. Rubens Barrichello of Brazil, driving for Jordan-Hart, was one lap back in third. Only 11 of the 26 starters finished the race, the first Formula One event ever held in Aida.

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Ferrari made a successful return to international sports car racing Sunday when Jay Cochran led a Ferrari 333 SP one-two finish at the IMSA Grand Prix of Atlanta EXXON World Sports Car Championship race at Braselton, Ga.

The victory came in Ferrari’s first international sports car race in more than two decades.

Averaging 116.040 m.p.h., Cochran, from Palm Beach, Fla., finished a full lap ahead of the second-place Ferrari driven by Gianpiero Moretti and Eliseo Salazar.

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Terry Labonte ended a five-year absence from victory lane, overtaking Rusty Wallace with 28 laps to go Sunday to win the First Union 400 by four seconds at North Wilkesboro, N.C.

Labonte last won a Winston Cup event on July 30, 1989, a streak of 135 races. That day, he took the Diehard 500 at Talladega, Ala.

Ernie Irvan had appeared on the verge of a $91,200 bonus for winning a Winston Cup race but dropped back to fifth after a late pit stop by the leaders. Irvan finished third.