Zanardi Shrewdly Wins Another Race

Italy’s Alex Zanardi used a strategic pit stop to stay in the lead, then pulled away to his third CART FedEx Series victory of the season, winning the ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday.

Despite changes to the Belle Isle Raceway road course to try to make it easier for the competitors to pass, most of the 72-lap event on the 2.346-mile, 14-turn circuit looked more like a parade than a race.

Zanardi kept the pressure on pole-sitter Greg Moore, rarely falling as much as a second behind. When Moore pitted for the first time on lap 23, Zanardi had enough fuel in the tank of his Honda-powered Reynard to drive two more laps before making his stop. Both drivers made fast stops, but Zanardi came back onto the track after his with a 2.7-second lead on Moore’s Reynard-Mercedes.

Zanardi averaged 100.052 mph.

*

Michael Schumacher overcame a penalty for veering wildly out of the pit lane, then zoomed away from his final pit stop to win a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal in which only 10 of the 22 cars finished. Schumacher averaged 113.31 mph.

*

With less than 90 minutes remaining in the 24 hours of Le Mans in France, the Toyota GT One race car withdrew with gearbox problems and Porsche won its third consecutive title. The Porsche GT1, driven by Britain’s Alan McNish and France’s Laurent Aiello and Stephane Ortelli, won, covering the 8.456-mile circuit 351 times at an average of 124.577 mph.

*

Ivan Stewart easily won the overall and Trophy-Truck divisions in the Baja 500 desert race at Ensenada, Mexico, covering the 460-mile course in 9:45.90.

Jurisprudence

The Pacific 10 Conference has accepted USC’s report of two NCAA rules violations involving its Student Athlete Academic Services program, and no further penalties other than a reprimand are expected, a university official said.

In addition, Christopher Cairney, the former director of tutor services who is suing the school after being fired for allegedly providing inappropriate assistance on a paper, said he has been told through his attorney he will not face any sanctions from the conference.

Dallas Stars defenseman Sergei Zubov was arrested early Sunday at his home in Coppell, Texas, on charges of assaulting his wife. Zubov, 27, was charged with aggravated assault and family violence, a second-degree felony. It was not known if Zubov’s wife, Irina, was injured.

Names in the News

Marcello Ramos Dinsmore, a two-time All-American high school soccer player at Tennessee High School in Bristol, Tenn., was killed in a two-car traffic accident in the early-morning hours, two days after his graduation. . . . George Hincapie, backed by his teammates on the U.S. Postal Cycling team, including former world champion Lance Armstrong, controlled the last third of the 156-mile race to win the First Union USPRO Championship at Philadelphia. . . . Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson defeated Jose Loiola and Emanuel Rego, 15-4, in the finals of Pro Beach Volleyball’s Golden State Open at Sacramento. . . . Santos Cardona, the World Boxing Organization’s No. 2-ranked welterweight meets Juan Soberanes in the main event of a triple 10-round fight card at 7:15 tonight at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.