Ferrari Wins Appeal to Keep F1 Championship Race Alive

The FIA’s International Court of Appeal on Saturday reinstated Ferrari’s 1-2 finish in last Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, assuring Formula One a thrilling finish next weekend in Japan and bringing on more charges of bending the rules for commercial interests.

Ferraris driven by Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher finished 1-2 last Sunday, but were disqualified because their aerodynamic deflectors didn’t comply with FIA regulations. Rival McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen was moved up from third and given the race and his second consecutive season title.

Saturday’s ruling from the five-member panel of lawyers means Irvine has a four-point lead on Hakkinen entering the Oct. 31, season-ending Japanese Grand Prix.

Ferrari is the biggest-spending but longest-suffering of the top teams in F1. On the verge of its first drivers’ championship in 20 years, the Italian team convinced the court the deflectors were legal.

“To punish someone you need two things,” said Ferrari’s chief legal officer Jean-Pierre Martel. “A clear set of rules and acknowledgment that the rules have been broken. We proved that neither of those were shown.”

McLaren managing director Ron Dennis was sharply critical, suggesting that “commercial” pressure had influenced the decision.

“We think the push now for our sport has inevitably become quite commercial,” he said. “Everybody wants to have an exciting race in Japan. But I think the price we pay for that one race is too great.”

FIA president Max Mosley explained the court’s decision by saying that Ferrari had raised valid criticisms of “the methods of measurement and clarity of regulations.”

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Mark Martin continued his dominance of the Busch Series races at North Carolina Speedway, holding off Jeff Green in the final laps of the Kmart 200 for his 10th victory at Rockingham. Dale Earnhardt Jr., the defending series champion and points leader, finished 13th and saw runner-up Matt Kenseth slice his margin to 81 points with three races left. . . . American Kenny Roberts turned a lap in one minute, 52.227 seconds to edge Spain’s Sete Gibernau by .325 seconds and take the pole for today’s Rio Grand Prix motorcycle race at Brazil. . . . John Force led funny car qualifying for the O’Reilly Fall Nationals at Ennis, Texas, covering the quarter-mile in 4.844 seconds at 317.12 mph.

Tennis

Australian Lleyton Hewitt defeated eighth-seeded Vincent Spadea, 6-3, 6-3, at the Lyon Grand Prix at France to reach the final in his first appearance on the European indoor circuit. Hewitt, ranked 27th in the world, will meet sixth-seeded Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, who defeated Sweden’s Magnus Gustafsson, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-2. . . . Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France advanced to today’s final of the Eurotel Slovak Indoor tournament at Bratislava after a wasp sting forced Kveta Hrdlickova of the Czech Republic to withdraw. She will play eighth-seeded Kim Clijsters of Belgium, who defeated Nathalie Dechy of France, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-2. . . . Fourth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France fired nine aces to defeat Lisa Raymond, 6-4, 6-2, and reach today’s final of the $1.05-million Kremlin Cup at Moscow. She will face second-seeded Barbara Schett of Austria, who defeated fifth-seeded Dominique Van Roost of Belgium, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6).

Miscellany

Kansas basketball forward Luke Axtell broke a bone in his left hand before an intrasquad scrimmage and should sit out 2-3 weeks. . . . France’s Felicia Ballanger, the most dominant woman in track cycling history, swept the time trials at Berlin to capture her 10th world championship gold medal. The 28-year-old won in 34.477 seconds, one day after claiming the sprint. She is unbeaten in both events at the worlds since first winning in 1995. . . . The U.S. women’s soccer team got three goals from Cindy Parlow Friday night at Pittsburgh and defeated a team of world all-stars, 9-6.

The new-look USOC, taking on a corporate structure, was previewed to the board of directors at Colorado Springs, Colo. Subject to final approval in February, the new USOC would shake up the leadership, redefine the organization’s mission, streamline decision-making, build diversity and improve relationships with the sports and athletes the USOC serves.

Germany’s Markus Beyer (17-0) won the World Boxing Council super-middleweight championship when he outpointed titleholder Richie Woodhall (25-2) of Britain at Telford, England. . . . Three-time Olympic boxing champion Teofilo Stevenson of Cuba was arrested for allegedly head-butting a United Airlines worker who tried to stop him from passing a checkpoint to board a flight home, Miami-Dade Police said.

The top-ranked USC men’s water polo team lost to Stanford, 5-3. . . . Fran O’Brien, 63, a former Washington Redskin and Pittsburgh Steeler offensive lineman, died Thursday after a heart attack.