Formula One Crash Leaves Driver Hurt

Portuguese driver Pedro Lamy became the latest casualty on the Formula One circuit Tuesday when he crashed during practice at Silverstone, England. He suffered dislocated knees and broken thighs and a broken arm.

Lamy lost control of his Lotus on a straightaway and it slammed into a safety wall and debris fence. The car broke into several pieces, but Lamy remained in the cockpit fully conscious until he was removed by paramedics and airlifted to Northampton General Hospital.

The crash occurred about three weeks after racetrack accidents killed Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola, Italy. Twelve days ago, Austria’s Karl Wendlinger suffered critical head injuries in a practice crash at Monaco.

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Australia’s Cannonball Run auto race was continued despite the deaths of four men in a crash involving a Japanese dentist who owned four $540,000 Ferraris.

Driver Akihiro Kabe and his co-driver, Takeshi Okano, and two race officials were killed when Kabe’s Ferrari F-40 went out of control at a checkpoint 60 miles south of Alice Springs.

Kabe, apparently surprised by a corner at the checkpoint, lost control, skidded and hit and killed two race officials standing nearby.

The six-day Cannonball, which began Sunday, is an open-road, 2,360-mile race with no speed limits outside towns.

Hockey

Pierre Page was fired as coach and general manager of the Quebec Nordiques. Pierre Lacroix was hired to replace him as general manager and will pick a new coach. Lacroix, a former player agent, has no experience as a general manager or coach and never played in the NHL.

A Russian man was sentenced in Buffalo to jail time already served for trying to get money from Sabres star Alexander Mogilny. Serguei Fomitchev, 31, has spent the last two months in the Erie County holding center in Buffalo after being charged with trying to extort $150,000 from Mogilny on March 25.

Basketball

Isiah Thomas, who retired May 11 after 13 seasons with the Detroit Pistons, was introduced as the basketball vice-president of the expansion Toronto Raptors. He reportedly will own 10% of the team.

Magic Johnson scored 26 points as his all-star team beat Japan’s national team, 103-87, in the opener of a four-game series in Nagoya, Japan.

Prosecutors met for about 90 minutes with Salt Lake City police to determine whether Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller will face criminal charges resulting from his scuffle with Denver fans last week.

Pro Football

The Redskins reportedly signed free agent Brian Mitchell, a kick return specialist and Washington’s second-best rusher, to a one-year, $750,000 contract.

The Minnesota Vikings agreed to a one-year contract with running back Amp Lee, a former San Francisco 49er.

The Houston Oilers, looking to replenish a depleted defensive line, reportedly reached an agreement with Kenny Davidson of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Former Cincinnati Bengal linebacker Kevin Walker, who suffered a career-ending knee injury in 1992, sued Lloyds of London to demand at least $500,000 he said he should have been paid under his insurance policy.

Miscellany

Heavyweight Tommy Morrison (41-2) knocked down Sherman Griffin (14-3) in the first round and won a 10-round unanimous decision in Tulsa, Okla.

U.S. District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein in Seattle refused to throw out major portions of a lawsuit that five University of Washington football players brought against the Pacific-10 Conference over sanctions imposed in August 1993.

The lawsuit challenges penalties imposed by the Pac-10 after a 1992 investigation into $50,000 in loans to former Husky quarterback Billy Joe Hobert from an Idaho businessman.

The Hambletonian Society announced agreement with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to continue to run harness racing’s richest event, for $1.2 million, at the Meadowlands through 2000.