Formula One Crash Leaves Driver Hurt

Portuguese driver Pedro Lamy became the latest casualty on the Formula One circuit Tuesday when he crashed during practice at Silverstone, England, dislocating both knees and breaking both thighs and an arm.

Lamy lost control of his Lotus on a straightaway and it slammed into a safety wall and debris fence.

The car broke into several pieces, but Lamy remained in the cockpit fully conscious until he was removed by paramedics and airlifted to Northampton General Hospital where surgery was performed.

The paramedics said his condition did not appear life threatening.

The crash occurred about three weeks after racetrack accidents killed Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola, Italy. Twelve days ago, Austria’s Karl Wendlinger suffered critical head injuries in a practice crash at Monaco.

Doctors in Nice, France, where Wendlinger is hospitalized, are attempting again to bring him out of his controlled coma. The latest attempt was halted because a brain scan showed swelling still existed.

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Australia’s Cannonball Run auto race was continued despite the deaths of four men in a crash involving a Japanese dentist who owned four $540,000 Ferraris.

Driver Akihiro Kabe and his co-driver, Takeshi Okano, and two race officials were killed when Kabe’s Ferrari F-40 went out of control at a checkpoint 60 miles south of Alice Springs.

Kabe, apparently surprised by a corner at the checkpoint, lost control, skidded and hit and killed two race officials standing nearby.

The six-day Cannonball, which began Sunday, is an open-road, 2,360-mile race with no speed limits outside towns. The race had 142 entrants, including other Ferraris, Porsches, Lamborghines, Corvettes and Mustangs.

The event is inspired by a 1970s cross-country U.S. race organized by motor sports writer Brock Yates.

Hockey

Pierre Page was fired as coach and general manager of the Quebec Nordiques.

Pierre Lacroix was hired to replace him as general manager and will pick a new coach. Lacroix, a former player agent, has no experience as a general manager or coach and never played in the NHL.

Page was hired as the team’s general manager in May 1990 and took over as coach in November 1991.