■ Spanish GP
Capirossi reigns in Spain
Loris Capirossi of Italy won the MotoGP in Sunday's season-opening Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, while world champion and compatriot Valentino Rossi was 14th. Capirossi, who started on the pole, timed 45 minutes, 57.733 seconds. Spain's Daniel Pedrosa, the 250cc world champion, finished second on a Honda, 4.375 seconds behind. US rider Nicky Hayden finished third, 9.996 seconds behind the Italian. Seven-time world champion Rossi was hit by Tony Elias' bike in the first curve, sending him sliding and off the track and forcing him to resume the race from last position. Jorge Lorenzo won his first 250cc race and Alvaro Bautista won the 125cc event.
■ Biathlon
Bjorndalen, Tjorhom win
Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Linda Tjorhom won season-ending World Cup mass start races Sunday at Holmenkollen in Oslo. Bjorndalen took the men's 15km event in 39 minutes, 1.7 seconds after two misses. It was the Norwegian's 63rd World Cup win -- a new record -- and his third straight this weekend at the cradle of Nordic skiing. Roman Dostal of the Czech Republic was second, 12.1 seconds behind. He also missed two of his 20 targets. Bjorndalen, who clinched his record-tying fourth overall title Saturday, topped the final mass start standings ahead of Raphael Poiree of France, who also was second overall.
■ Rally racing
Loeb takes Catalunya
World champion Sebastien Loeb won his second straight Catalunya Rally on Sunday in Pratdip, Spain, with fellow Citroen driver Daniel Sordo finishing second. Loeb, the three-time world champ, finished the 16 stages over three days in 3 hours, 22 minutes, 1.7 seconds. Sordo was 48.2 seconds behind.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
BRING THE NOISE: Brazil’s Fonseca attracted a boisterous crowd that brought such dominant soccer-style energy the referee switched to Portuguese to ask for quiet Australia’s Alex de Minaur on Monday put an end to Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca’s challenge at the Miami Open, outlasting the 18-year-old 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in an enthralling contest. Attendance on stadium court had been sparse throughout the day, but the Hard Rock Stadium turned into a mini-Maracana Stadium for Fonseca’s match, complete with Brazilian flags and soccer-style chanting. Fonseca brought his energetic brand of ultra-attacking tennis, but De Minaur was up to the challenge, coping with blistering forehands and a partisan crowd. Such was the dominance of Fonseca’s raucous support that the referee switched to Portuguese for his appeals for quiet. However, De
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