Blown Engine Helps Hill Win French Grand Prix

Damon Hill captured the French Grand Prix on Sunday at Magny Cours after two-time defending champion and pole-sitter Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari blew an engine on the warmup lap.

Hill completed the 72 laps in 1 hour, 36 minutes, 28.795 seconds, averaging 118.2 mph for the 190.136 miles.

Hill’s teammate, Jacques Villeneuve, finished second, 8.1 seconds behind, to give Williams-Renault its second consecutive one-two finish and fourth of the season.

The Benetton-Renaults of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger finished three-four to give Renault the top four positions in a Grand Prix, the first time for the French engine.

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Gil de Ferran held off Alex Zanardi to win the Cleveland Grand Prix.

The 28-year-old Brazilian took the lead when Zanardi, an Indy-car rookie who earned his first victory last week at Portland, Ore., had to stop for fuel with 11 laps left in the 90-lap event.

Canadian rookie Greg Moore was third, followed by two-time series champion Al Unser Jr., who trails PPG Indy Car World Series leader Jimmy Vasser by only three points, 102-99, after 10 of 16 races.

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Terry Labonte won his third straight Lysol 200 NASCAR Busch Grand National stock car race at Watkins Glen International in New York.

Labonte, driving a Chevrolet, held off Todd Bodine for a narrow .66-second victory in the 200-mile race on the 2.45-mile track, the only road course on the NASCAR Grand National circuit.

Mike McLaughlin finished third, with Bobby Labonte and David Green completing a Chevrolet sweep of the top five.

Cycling

Frederic Moncassin of France won the Tour de France’s first stage at Den Bosch, Netherlands. The top of the overall standings remained relatively unchanged.

Moncassin collected his first career Tour de France stage victory by covering the flat, 129.6-mile course outside southeast Amsterdam in five hours, one second.

Alex Zulle, last year’s runner-up, finished in a group of 37 credited with the same time as Moncassin and retained the leader’s yellow jersey. Lance Armstrong of the United States is 53rd overall.

Pro Basketball

A Detroit newspaper reported that the Pistons will make a $50-million, five-year offer to free agent center Dikembe Mutombo of the Denver Nuggets.

However, Denver, Phoenix and Houston are trying to work a trade that would send Mutombo to Phoenix, Sun forward Charles Barkley to Houston and Rocket guard Sam Cassell and swingman Robert Horry to Denver.

Baseball

Jerry May, 52, a former catcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates, was killed when a rotary brush cutter fell on him at his Augusta (Va.) County farm.

May, who had a .234 career average, was with the Pirates from 1964 to 1970 and finished his career at Kansas City from 1971-73.

Beach Volleyball

Fourth-ranked Scott Ayakatubby and Brian Lewis defeated Adam Johnson and Jose Loiola, 15-10, to capture the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ Michigan Open at Grand Haven, Mich.

U.S. Olympians Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes and Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh were both upset by Johnson and Loiola.

Barbra Fontana Harris and Linda Hanley defeated Karolyn Kirby and Angela Rock, 22-20, to win their second consecutive Women’s Pro Beach Volleyball Assn. tournament at Newport, R.I.