Ralf Schumacher Starts His Own Winning Streak

Ralf Schumacher won the Formula One French Grand Prix on Sunday at Magny-Cours for his second consecutive victory. Schumacher finished 13.8 seconds ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya in the second consecutive 1-2 finish for Williams-BMW.

Michael Schumacher of Ferrari struggled in fifth place most of the race and finished third. Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard of McLaren-Mercedes finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Ralf Schumacher, whose victory in last week’s European Grand Prix at Nuerburgring, Germany, ended a 24-race winless streak, won for this sixth time in his career.

The Williams-BMW team has won three of the last four races over Ferrari in Formula One.

Defending Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, Ralf’s older brother, still leads the season standings with 64 points. Raikkonen is second with 56, three points ahead of Ralf Schumacher.

Michael Schumacher closed within 19.5 seconds at the end of the 70 laps on the 2.74-mile Nevers-Magny Cours circuit, but never challenged.

The two Williams cars ran first and second most of the race. Ralf Schumacher stretched his lead from 3.5 seconds to nearly 10 seconds at the end of 60 laps and to 13.7 seconds with five laps left.

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Bryan Herta took the lead in his Dallara-Honda with five laps left and held on to win the Kansas Indy 300 for his first Indy Racing League victory.

Herta’s victory at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., prevented Scott Dixon from having the circuit’s first three-race winning streak since 1998, when Kenny Brack won at Charlotte, Pikes Peak and Atlanta.

Dixon started from the pole in a G Force Toyota, but finished sixth and lost ground to points leader Tony Kanaan.

Kanaan, whose late pit stop gave Herta the lead, finished fourth in a Dallara-Honda and extended his lead over Dixon from 27 points to 31.

It was the first victory on an oval for Herta, a former CART driver. He signed with Andretti Green Racing late last month after Dario Franchitti, who broke his back in a motorcycle accident in April, had season-ending surgery.

Helio Castroneves finished second in a Dallara-Toyota and closed to within one point of Dixon in the standings. Gil de Ferran was third in a Dallara-Honda. Brack was fifth in a Dallara-Honda.

Felipe Giaffone crashed on the 56th lap and broke his pelvis and right thigh, said Dr. Henry Bock, the IRL’s medical services director. He had to be cut from his G Force Toyota and airlifted to the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Giaffone was trying to pass Dan Wheldon in the second turn when his right front tire made contact with Wheldon’s left rear tire.

Both cars spun and hit the wall, and flames briefly shot from Giaffone’s car. Wheldon was examined at the infield care center and released.

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Ricky Carmichael remained unbeaten in six races this season by winning the AMA Chevy Trucks 250cc Motocross Championship race at Buchanan, Mich.

Carmichael, who is halfway to a second consecutive undefeated season, overcame an early challenge from fellow Honda rider Kevin Windham to pull away to victories in both 250cc races.

Hockey

Goaltender Mathieu Chouinard, who was drafted in the first round of the 1998 entry draft by the Ottawa Senators but has not played in the NHL, has signed a two-year contract with the Kings, the Kings are expected to announce today.

Chouinard, 23, is expected to compete with Cristobal Huet to be the backup to newly acquired Roman Cechmanek.

Chouinard became an unrestricted free agent last week after the Senators declined to make him a qualifying offer.

The 6-foot-1, 211-pound Chouinard will take part in the Kings’ annual development camp, which starts today and runs through July 19 in the club’s training facility at El Segundo.

Miscellany

Terrence Kiel, the second-round draft choice of the San Diego Chargers, was released from a Houston hospital, two days after being shot during an attempted carjacking.

Charger General Manager A.J. Smith, who spoke with Kiel by phone, said there is a good chance the safety from Texas A&M; could be ready for the start of training camp July 22.

Kiel was shot once in a calf, once in a knee and once in the stomach.

Roy E. Disney’s Pyewacket led Philippe Kahn’s Pegasus 77 past the west end of Catalina Island and into open ocean as the great match race of the 42nd Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii got underway.

The two lead boats passed the island a little more than 2 1/2 hours after the start.

The last 12 of 57 boats started in light wind off the cliffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Their destination is the landmark Diamond Head finish line 2,225 nautical miles away.

Princeton won the Temple Cup for student eights and the University of Washington won the Ladies Plate for intermediate eights on the final day of the Henley Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames, England.

Two Princeton crews met in the Temple Cup final, with its freshman heavyweight “A” eight beating its varsity lightweight “B” crew. The “A” crew led from the start.

Washington won an all-American final in the Ladies Plate, beating Rutgers by 4 3/4 lengths.

Ashley Freeman, Diana Gooden and MacKenzie Hill, who graduated from Long Beach Wilson High last month, and Carol Rodriguez of Anaheim Western set a meet record for the West Valley Eagles by winning the young women’s (ages 17-19) 1,600-meter relay in 3:38.83 in the USA Track & Field Youth Athletics championships at the University at Buffalo in Amherst, N.Y.

The time broke the mark of 3:39.49 set in 2001. Hill, who has signed with UCLA, also won the 400 low hurdles in 1:01.04 on the final day of the five-day meet.

Tennelle Milligan of Yorba Linda defeated Cara Honeychurch of Australia, 205-203, to win the Professional Women’s Bowling Assn. Greater Memphis Open. Tish Johnson of Northridge finished fourth.

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Chris Dufresne is on vacation.