Villeneuve Is a Winner at Luxembourg Grand Prix

Jacques Villeneuve won the Luxembourg Grand Prix at Nuerburgring, Germany, and seized the lead in the Formula One standings Sunday, benefiting from Michael Schumacher’s collision with his brother and the blown engines of the two McLaren cars that had led for two-thirds of the race.

Mika Hakkinen of Finland, who had started from the pole position for the first time in his 94-race career, seemed headed for an easy victory on his 29th birthday. But the engine of his McLaren-Mercedes blew on lap 43, giving Villeneuve the lead.

The Canadian steered the Williams-Renault to his seventh victory of the season and a commanding 77-68 lead over Schumacher in the drivers championship, with two races left.

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Defending NHRA Winston funny car champion John Force set a national speed record in the semifinal and edged rookie Randy Anderson in the final of the Sears Craftsman Nationals at Topeka, Kan.

Points leader Force covered the quarter-mile at Heartland Park Topeka in 4.988 seconds at 308.74 mph in a Ford Mustang for his fifth victory of the season. He set an NHRA record of 313.15 during a semifinal victory.

Other winners were Kenny Bernstein in top fuel, Jim Yates in pro stock and Angelle Seeling in pro stock motorcycle.

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Rain caused the Hanes 500 Winston Cup race at Martinsville, Va., to be postponed until today, when weather forecasters were calling for sunny skies.

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Joe Bunton held off a race-long charge from Warren Stilwell to win his SCCA Pro Racing Spec Racer Ford Pro Series debut at the Children’s Hospital Grand Prix of Colorado at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo.