In Brief

MOTOR SPORTS

Garage fire injures 31 after
Maldonado captures F1 race

Pastor Maldonado held off Fernando Alonso to win the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, giving Williams its first Formula One victory in eight years. The celebration quickly gave way to concern when a fire in the team garage left 31 people injured.

Maldonado started from the pole and withstood the challenge by Alonso's Ferrari to take the 66-lap race at the Catalunya Circuit by 3.1 seconds.

Maldonado, making his first visit to the podium, is the first Venezuelan winner in F1. This was Williams' 114th triumph but first since the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Maldonado's victory provided a flourish for Frank Williams as the team celebrated its longtime team principal's 70th birthday this weekend. Williams' celebration speech, however, was cut short. He was led from the garage when the fire broke out.

Governing body FIA said 31 people were treated by Catalunya Circuit medical staff, with seven of those flown to a variety of hospitals to receive treatment. Catalonia's regional government said in a statement that one person was airlifted to Barcelona hospital with serious burn wounds, while the rest were being treated locally for smoke inhalation.

Williams confirmed a fuel leak caused the problem, with four of its staff treated for injuries.

Also: Colombia's Sebastian Saavedra jumped to the top of the Indianapolis 500 speed chart. His fast lap of 221.526 mph was the fastest of the week during practice.

Rookies Bryan Clauson and Josef Newgarden, both rookies with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, were second and third. Clauson went 221.173 mph while Newgarden had a 221.158.

Derek Thorn of Bakersfield, Calif., won the Spears Southwest Series Blackjack 121, an Open Comp race held at Las Vegas Motor Speedways' Bullring on Saturday night.

Other event winners: Austin Barnes of Escondido, Calif. (Open Comp Modified); Dylan Kwasniewski of Las Vegas (NASCAR Super Late Model); and Patrick Hanley of Las Vegas (NASCAR Super Stock).

MISCELLANEOUS

Cavaliers guard Irving receives
NBA's Rookie of the Year honor

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving has been chosen the NBA's Rookie of the Year, a person close to the voting told The Associated Press.

Irving's selection isn't a surprise since he led all first-year players in scoring (18.5 points per game) and renewed hope for Cleveland's franchise. He'll receive the award Tuesday.

The 20-year-old Irving entered the league as the No. 1 overall draft pick after playing only 11 games at Duke.

Also: UNLV fell behind 4-0 early and lost an 11-7 Mountain West Conference decision to New Mexico in the baseball team's final home game of the regular season.

The Rebels (23-29, 7-17) closed to within 6-5 in the seventh inning, but surrendered five runs in the ninth.

Erik VanMeetren hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning for UNLV.

Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens opened the scoring and the United States rolled to a 5-0 victory over defending champion Finland at the ice hockey world championships in Helsinki.

Canada tops Group A with 16 points, followed by the U.S. with 13 points and Finland with 12.

Ricardo Santos shot 9-under 63 to win the Madeira Islands Open by four strokes, becoming the first Portuguese-born golfer to win on the European Tour in his home country.

Santos set a championship record of 22-under 266. Sweden's Magnus Carlsson shot a 67 and was runner-up.