The German had appeared safely on course to his fifth win here and an almost unassailable 26-point advantage in the championship

The German had appeared safely on course to his fifth win here and an almost unassailable 26-point advantage in the championship. Fate intervened and for once Coulthard was the beneficiary.He has had to be content with more than his fair share of mechanical problems for the past couple of years and last month endured the emotional and physical consequences of a plane crash which killed his two pilots. He is still suffering the effects of cracked ribs and required pain-killers before Sunday’s race. However, the events here and Dennis’ statement have provided the best possible care and medication.”I’ve maintained all along I wanted to stay at McLaren,” the 29-year-old Coulthard said. “I believe this is the best team and that we still have the best car. Why would I want to move? I’m improving all the time and I’m sure McLaren will give me all the support I need to try and win the championship.”Jacques Villeneuve, the former world champion, may be particularly disheartened by these developments.

The Canadian has been linked with McLaren after struggling to compete at the sharp end with BAR-Honda. But Dennis does have support from an unlikely source, Ferrari’s technical director, Ross Brawn.The Englishman at the Italian tiller said: “There’s no reason for McLaren to change their drivers.Hakkinen is very good and so is David They know the team and the car. That gives McLaren stability.”It’s why I would have been happy to keep Eddie Irvine But he had his own agenda and wanted to go and be a No 1. It takes time for a driver to settle into a new team, as Rubens Barrichello is finding.”Ironically, Barrichello capitalised on the demise of Schumacher and others to register second place here. Meanwhile, Irvine repaid some of Jaguar’s faith with fourth place and their first points.Neil Ressler, the beleaguered chairman of Jaguar, said: “It’s very gratifying for all our efforts to be rewarded with the team’s first points. Eddie drove a smart race and didn’t put a wheel wrong on a circuit that is widely acknowledged as the ultimate challenge for a driver.”It was precisely the response Jaguar were seeking from Irvine, who is understood to have a £6m-a-year contract, after the team’s patriarch, Jackie Stewart, criticised the Ulsterman’s record this season – three accidents from six races before the Monaco Grand Prix.Irvine said: “It’s great to put Jaguar’s name on the scoreboard. If we continue to put all the jigsaw pieces in place on a regular basis, the points will come our way again.

There have been races this year when we deserved points and now we’ve got them.”The car has been good all weekend and I had a good feeling about the race if I kept it clean It was a big struggle, one of the hardest races of my life. The steering was getting very heavy towards the end and I was dehydrated I even had a blistered foot But it was all worthwhile.”. The Bradford and Great Britain full-back, Stuart Spruce, is to have no further action taken against him over allegations that he bit an opponent. The Bradford and Great Britain full-back, Stuart Spruce, is to have no further action taken against him over allegations that he bit an opponent.
The Warrington prop, Danny Nutley, complained during the match nine days ago that Spruce had bitten him and Warrington were asked to submit a report.But Greg McCallum, upgraded to director of rugby in the Rugby League’s shake-up over the weekend, said yesterday: “We are very grateful for Warrington’s report, but, on this occasion, there is insufficient evidence for us to refer a charge of biting against Spruce to the disciplinary committee.”Spruce was already ruled out of tomorrow’s Super League match at Wigan, and he will be sidelined for an estimated five weeks following knee surgery.His coach, Matthew Elliott, will be spoken to by McCallum over his comments after the Bulls’ narrow victory over St Helens on Friday night.After a series of decisions referred to the video referee, David Asquith, Elliott said that the official “was pressing the wrong buttons or doesn’t know the rules”.The Huddersfield-Sheffield coach, John Kear, also faces a dressing down over his comments on the refereeing of Stuart Cummings in the defeat at Salford on Sunday.Kear labelled Cummings’ decision to allow a highly dubious try which arguably cost the Giants the match “absolutely disgraceful” and said that he could not approach the referee for clarification because he was too angry.”Given the significance of Super League fixtures to the clubs, it is possible to understand the emotional strains on the coaches involved,” said McCallum. “The League, however, does have firm policies on the public criticism of matchofficials and video replays.”I would urge all coaches to watch the video recordings of incidents before being tempted to discuss matters in the media.”Wakefield’s new coach, Tony Kemp, will not be called in after his criticism of a disallowed try which could have cost his side a draw against Leeds.The restructured RFL will share a table with club officials for the first time at the Rugby League Council’s meeting on Thursday. McCallum, Dave Callaghan and Peter Webster make up a three-man directorate under Peter Haworth, the author of the report that recommended the changes, who has been invited to stay on as part-time chief executive.St Helens’s successful May has been recognised with Ian Millward and Kevin Iro being named Tetley’s Bitter Coach and Player of the Month respectively.

“I view this award as recognition of the quality of the team’s performances in the last 12 games,” said Millward, whose side will be overtaken at the top of the Super League by the winners of tomorrow’s Wigan-Bradford game.Oldham are talking to the local non-league football clubs, Hyde and Mossley, after being told by Oldham Athletic that they cannot play their final two games in the Northern Ford Premiership at Boundary Park.. The prospect of 15 hulking great All Blacks hollering and haka-ing their way across the half-way line is more than enough to concentrate the average sporting mind on the task in hand, but three of Scotland’s summer tourists nevertheless found themselves distracted by club concerns when they arrived in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands yesterday. Far from closing the door on the outside world in preparation for a demanding two-Test series against opponents they have never beaten, Gregor Townsend, Tom Smith and Steve Brotherstone were weighing up their longer-term futures after a desperate week of defeat and disillusionment in France. The prospect of 15 hulking great All Blacks hollering and haka-ing their way across the half-way line is more than enough to concentrate the average sporting mind on the task in hand, but three of Scotland’s summer tourists nevertheless found themselves distracted by club concerns when they arrived in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands yesterday. Far from closing the door on the outside world in preparation for a demanding two-Test series against opponents they have never beaten, Gregor Townsend, Tom Smith and Steve Brotherstone were weighing up their longer-term futures after a desperate week of defeat and disillusionment in France.
All three Scots have been earning their centimes at Brive, champions of Europe as recently as 1997 but are now stuck between a rock and a hard place following costly reverses in both the championship and knock-out arenas.Brive were beaten by Biarritz in last Thursday’s French Cup final, and then leaked 40 points to Toulouse in Sunday’s league outing. That nasty little double whammy seriously undermined their chances of securing a place in next season’s Heineken Cup, and the fall-out has already started.Christophe Lamaison and Philippe Carbonneau, the senior half-back pairing, have signalled their desire to leave – cruelly, the master marksman Lamaison is being lured by Biarritz – and the trio of Tricolore Thistles may well follow suit. Townsend, who wants to stay in France and has rejected overtures from Harlequins, is considering a move to Castres, who need a flexible, world-class midfield talent to replace the Saracens-bound Thomas Castaignÿde.

“I’m speaking to Brive, but my contract is up at the end of the month,” said the Edinburgh-born Lion yesterday.Smith, the best loose-head prop in Europe on his day, was equally downbeat about his prospects of staying put. “Playing in France is a different experience, but it hasn’t necessarily turned out to be the one I was looking for,” he admitted.Brotherstone, a key contributor to Scotland’s Calcutta Cup victory over England in April, is being pursued by Northampton, who lost one hooker last week when Chris Johnson signed for Rotherham, and are not at all confident of seeing Federico Mendez at Franklin’s Gardens next term. The most predatory Puma of them all has returned home to Argentina, and burgeoning business interests are likely to keep him there.Rob Howley, the former Wales captain, has signed a new three-year deal with Cardiff after weeks of soul-searching and indecision. The Lions scrum-half was chased hard by Leicester last month, with a number of other English Premiership outfits following in the slipstream, but despite his well-documented problems with the Red Dragon hierarchy, Howley has opted to remain in the land of his fathers.On the Wallaby front, Tim Horan was denied one last celebratory run-out for his beloved Queensland after suffering a head injury during the inter-state victory over New South Wales at the weekend. The world’s finest centre, who joins Saracens next season, was told not to risk his well-being by turning out in today’s match against the ACT Brumbies in Brisbane.. Paris’s loss will be London’s gain next week when Andre Agassi joins Pete Sampras on the lawns of Queen’s Club for the Stella Artois Championships, both Americans having accepted wild cards after being beaten early on the clay courts at the French Open here. Paris’s loss will be London’s gain next week when Andre Agassi joins Pete Sampras on the lawns of Queen’s Club for the Stella Artois Championships, both Americans having accepted wild cards after being beaten early on the clay courts at the French Open here.
It will be Agassi’s first appearance at a pre-Wimbledon tournament in Britain.