Winning Is Easy for Barrichello

This time, Rubens Barrichello didn’t have to make way for his teammate.

He led all the way to the finish line Sunday and won the European Grand Prix at Nurburgring, Germany, beating fellow Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher by two-tenths of a second.

“It was really a great race,” Barrichello said of his second career Formula One win.

“We pushed it and the performance was there, and I have to thank everyone at Ferrari.

“The car was really great.”

Fans cheered as they were spared a repeat of last month’s Austrian Grand Prix finish, in which Ferrari instructed Barrichello to let Schumacher overtake him in the final laps.

“The championship’s moved on since Austria,” Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn said.

Ferrari justified its controversial decision in Austria on grounds Schumacher’s world title defense was not yet secure.

Now, however, Schumacher has 76 of a possible 90 points and his nearest rival, younger brother Ralf, is 46 points behind.

Michael Schumacher is seeking to tie Juan Manuel Fangio’s record of five series titles.

In this race, Ferrari told Schumacher to maintain his position behind Barrichello.

The finish prompted speculation that Ferrari was trying to appease the international automobile federation (FIA) when it holds a hearing Wednesday on the Austrian finish.

“I didn’t have Wednesday on my mind,” Ferrari team director Jean Todt said.

“Team tactics are a part of Ferrari, and today our tactic was to let Barrichello win.”

Schumacher denied allowing Barrichello to win to make up for what happened at Austria.

“I did fight very hard,” he said. “So hard that I came off.”

He took a spin in the 23rd lap that increased Barrichello’s lead by 10 seconds, but was closing in again by his second pit stop.

“After the second pit stop, he came out in front of me and that was it,” Schumacher said.

“Rubens had a great race, he didn’t make a mistake, so he deserves to be the winner, and I deserve to be second.”

Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes was third after finishing 46.4 seconds behind Barrichello on the 3.19-mile Nurburgring circuit.

Ralf Schumacher was fourth in his BMW-Williams, 66.9 seconds behind Barrichello, who had started in fourth place.

Pole-winner Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard failed to finish after colliding on the 27th lap.

Tennis

Sjeng Schalken won the Ordina Open at Den Bosch, Netherlands, beating Arnaud Clement, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the last grass-court warm-up for Wimbledon.

Schalken advanced to the final after defeating second-seeded Roger Federer in the quarterfinals and Tommy Robredo in the semifinals.

Pro Basketball

Tina Thompson scored a career-high 31 points and Sheryl Swoopes added 17 as the Houston Comets (9-3), defeated the Portland Fire (4-7), 71-58, in a WNBA game before 7,541 at Portland, Ore.

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Nykesha Sales scored 25 of her career high-tying 29 points in the second half and the Orlando Miracle (7-3) rallied to beat the New York Liberty (7-6), 77-65, before 7,911 at Orlando, Fla., for their fourth consecutive victory.

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Chamique Holdsclaw had 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Washington Mystics (9-2) to a 63-45 victory over the Cleveland Rockers (3-6) before 14,998 at Washington.

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The Seattle Storm (6-6) had a season-high 24 assists in beating the Sacramento Monarchs, 86-60, before 6,138 at Seattle.

The Monarchs (2-8) are winless in eight road games this season.

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Lisa Harrison scored 14 points to help the Phoenix Mercury (6-3) hand the Minnesota Lynx (4-7) their fourth consecutive loss, 70-61, before 7,623 at Phoenix.

Miscellany

Right wing Theo Fleury will likely become an unrestricted free agent July 1 after the New York Rangers decided not to pick up his $7-million contract option.

Ranger spokesman John Rosasco said the club failed to pick up an option on Fleury’s contract by a negotiated June 15 deadline.

Fleury, who scored 24 goals and had 39 assists last season, previously said he was willing to take less money to stay in New York.

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The Kings selected Aaron Rome, a defenseman who played last season for Swift Current of the Western Hockey League, with the fourth-round pick they obtained Saturday in the trade that sent forward Cliff Ronning to the Minnesota Wild.

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Clint Dolezel threw a game-winning, 31-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith with no time left to lift the Grand Rapids Rampage (6-4) to a 42-41 Arena League victory over the Georgia Force (4-6) at Grand Rapids, Mich.

Passings

George E. Paterno, a longtime Penn State football broadcaster and brother of Coach Joe Paterno, died Sunday at State College, Pa., several days after he suffered a heart attack.

He was 73.