Fortunate Herbert Wins British Grand Prix

Damon Hill added more fuel to his bitter feud with world champion Michael Schumacher on Sunday when he crashed into the German at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, England and accidentally handed Johnny Herbert his first victory.

With 90,000 fans at his home track cheering him on, defending champion Hill was chasing Schumacher with 15 laps remaining in the 61-lap race and tried to pass on the inside of a bend.

When the German held his line, the front right wheel of the British driver’s Williams Renault struck the left side of Schumacher’s Benetton Renault and both spun off the circuit onto the gravel.

“I can understand that Damon wanted to win his home Grand Prix very badly, but for that you have to stay cool.” Schumacher said. “He was probably too much under pressure and tried to make something that didn’t work.”

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Dale Jarrett used every drop of fuel to get within a half mile of victory, then coasted around the final turn and hung on to defeat Jeff Gordon in the Miller Genuine Draft 500 at Long Pond, Pa.

Jarrett needed a push to the winner’s circle after his car stopped less than a mile beyond the line.

He beat series leader Gordon by about five car lengths (.19 seconds). The victory was only the third this year for a Ford Thunderbird, and the fourth for the 38-year-old driver.

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Michael Andretti, mired in bad luck and bad results through the first 10 races of the season, beat Bobby Rahal to win the Toronto Molson Indy, his first victory since last year’s race on Toronto’s 1.78-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit.

It was the fifth Toronto victory for Andretti, as well as the 30th career victory for the 33-year-old driver.

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England’s James Weaver won the IMSA Exxon World Sports Car-Exxon Supreme GTS-1, avoiding a late-race accident to edge Spain’s Fermin Velez by 8.245 seconds at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma. Weaver averaged 90.776 m.p.h.

Tennis

Sixth-seeded David Prinosil of the Czech Republic used a blistering first serve and strong service return to upset defending champion David Wheaton, 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-2, at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I., for his first title.

Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov won the Swiss Open in Gstaad, Switzerland, defeating Switzerland’s Jakob Hlasek, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. It was the third title of the year for Kafelnikov, who also won at Milan and St. Petersburg, and his first ever on clay.

Fernando Meligeni of Brazil won his first ATP Tour singles title, defeating Christian Ruud, 6-4, 6-4, in the $328,000 Swedish Open in Bastad, Sweden.

Defending champion Irina Spirlea of Romania wore down Germany’s Sabine Hack, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, to win the $107,500 Palermo Grand Prix in Palermo, Sicily.

A 13-year-old Colombian girl, a student at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Fla., was killed in a highway crash when her coach, Rafael Salazar Luconi of Costa Rica, fell asleep at the wheel. The Florida Highway Patrol said Luconi was not seriously injured in the early morning accident in St. Petersburg in which the car struck a guard rail and tore in half. The girl’s name was not released, pending notification of her family.

Soccer

Colombia reached the semifinals of the America Cup, defeating Paraguay, 5-4, on penalties after the teams tied, 1-1.

After each team had made nine penalty kicks, Colombian goalkeeper Rene Higuita dived to his right to save Carlos Gamarra’s attempt and give Colombia the victory.

In another quarterfinal, first-half goals by Marcelo Otero and Daniel Fonseca gave host Uruguay a 2-1 victory over Bolivia and a berth in the semifinals. Oscar Sanchez scored a late goal for Bolivia.

Miscellany

Charlie Wi, 23, of North Hills rolled in birdie putts on the 16th and 17th holes to win the 96th Southern California Golf Association Amateur Championship at Santa Ana Country Club by four strokes over Jim Lundstrom of Mission Hills and Jorge Corral of Tijuana with a 280 total. . . . LSU’s Warren Morris homered and Cal State Fullerton’s Mark Kotsay had three runs batted in as the United States routed Korea, 13-0, at Durham, N.C., to salvage a split in their four-game exhibition baseball series. . . . Elvis Alvarez, 30, a former bantamweight champion, was shot to death in Medellin, Colombia, police said.