Raikkonen Drives Past Fan Favorite in Spain

King Juan Carlos made Fernando Alonso feel like a winner.

The Spanish driver finished second to Kimi Raikkonen on Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix and was denied a fourth straight victory in a race before a roaring sellout crowd of 115,000 that included the king.

“Second place here at home is like a victory for me,” Alonso said of Barcelona, Spain.

Raikkonen led from the pole in his McLaren-Mercedes for the third Formula One victory of his career. Alonso, in a Renault, was trying to become the first Spaniard to win his national race since it was first run 54 years ago.

Seven-time series champion Michael Schumacher was forced out after 46 laps when his car limped into the pits with a flat tire. Ferrari has failed to score a point in two of the last three races.

Raikkonen finished in 1 hour, 27 minutes, 16.830 seconds. Alonso was 27.6 seconds behind; Jarno Trulli of Toyota was third. Ralf Schumacher of Toyota was fourth, followed by Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella and Mark Webber of Williams-BMW.

Signs around the course hailed Alonso as “King Alonso I” or “Asturias’ Best,” referring to the northern region that is home to the driver. Thousands of blue-and-yellow Asturian flags complemented Renault’s colors.

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Danica Patrick, a 23-year-old rookie and the only female driver in the Indy Racing League this season, had a smooth and impressive start of practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

She breezed through the mandatory rookie test, then began building speed almost each lap around the 2.5-mile oval.

Her top lap of 221.463 mph was the fastest among the nine drivers on the track on the first of two days of the Rookie Orientation Program. Full practice for the May 29 race begins Tuesday.

Ryan Briscoe was second-fastest at 220.546, and Patrick Carpentier was third at 219.010.

Cycling

Olympic champion Paolo Bettini of Italy won the first stage of the Giro d’Italia in Tropea, taking the overall lead.

Bettini claimed the leader’s pink jersey from Australia’s Brett Lancaster, who finished first Saturday in the time trial. Bettini, the road race gold medalist at the Athens Games, pulled away during a short uphill stretch in the final mile of the 129-mile race.

Arena Football

John Dutton threw eight touchdown passes, four to Damian Harrell, in the Colorado Crush’s 63-57 win over the New Orleans VooDoo in New Orleans.

Dutton was 30 for 40 for 296 yards, and Harrell finished with 13 catches for 130 yards for the Crush (9-5), which ended a three-game losing streak.

Andy Kelly was 28 for 42 for 272 yards and seven touchdowns for New Orleans (8-6). Thabiti Davis finished with 15 catches for 140 yards and three touchdowns.

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Matt Nagy threw five scoring passes and Chris Jackson finished with four touchdowns, helping the Georgia Force clinch first place in the Southern Division with a 52-40 win over the Tampa Bay Storm in Atlanta.

Nagy was 24-for-37 passing for 269 yards, and Jackson had 12 catches for 130 yards, and rushed two yards for another score for the Force (10-4).

Shane Stafford was 22 for 42 for 337 yards and six touchdowns for Tampa Bay (8-6).

Hockey

U.S. captain Mike Modano had a goal and an assist to help the Americans end Sweden’s four-game winning streak with a 5-1 victory at the world hockey championships in Innsbruck, Austria.

Mike Knuble added a goal and an assist, and Yan Stastny, Erik Cole and Brian Gionta scored for the U.S.

Track and Field

Washington State’s Darion Powell won the 110-meter hurdles and the discus and earned 7,531 points to win the decathlon in the Pacific 10 Conference Multi-Event Championships at UCLA.

Powell won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.90 and the discus with a throw of 46.83 meters after winning the 100 meters, long jump and shotput Saturday.

Washington State’s Julie Pickler won the long jump and edged out her twin sister, Diana, to win the heptathlon.

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Oregon freshman Galen Rupp broke the U.S. junior record in the 10,000 meters, finishing in 28 minutes, 15.52 seconds at the Oregon Twilight meet in Eugene, Ore.

Running in only his second competitive 10,000, Rupp beat the 28:32.7 set by Rudy Chapa at the Drake Relays in 1976.

Miscellany

Texas and Texas A&M; purchased nearly $120,000 in dietary supplements containing ingredients banned by the NCAA for their student-athletes, according to a published report.

Between fall 2000 and spring 2004, the athletic departments purchased 21 products containing certain muscle-building ingredients and substances forbidden by the NCAA, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

David Batson, Texas A&M; director of athletic compliance, said the school was not aware that banned ingredients were being purchased until after reviewing records requested by the Star-Telegram.

Most of the products purchased by Texas A&M; were ordered by Mike Clark, who served as the university’s assistant athletic director for strength and conditioning before taking a job with the Seattle Seahawks last year.

Clark told the Star-Telegram that he gave the supplements with banned ingredients to student-athletes at Texas A&M.; He said he stopped ordering the products when he learned they were banned and removed them from the shelves.

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Brazil beat Thailand, 9-2, with three goals by Nenem, highlighting the opening day of FIFA’s inaugural beach soccer World Cup in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

France, Uruguay and Portugal also won openers in the group stage of the weeklong tournament at Copacabana beach.

Beach soccer is played on a sand field about 40 yards long and 30 yards wide. A game is divided into three 12-minute periods, with unlimited substitution.