And fate decreed that he should enter new realms in Formula 1 on the circuit where he

And fate decreed that he should enter new realms in Formula 1 on the circuit where he made his debut, a decade earlier.
The German achieved a record 52nd victory after he and his fellow drivers were comforted in the knowledge that Luciano Burti, who crashed heavily at 200mph in yesterday’s Belgian Grand Prix, had sustained merely concussion and bruising. Burti lost control of his Prost as he attempted to overtake Eddie Irvine’s Jaguar, four laps into the original race. His car, shorn of its front wing, careered straight on, through a tyre barrier and into the armco.The Jaguar also smashed into the barrier, but Irvine was able to climb out and help the rescue crew drag the protective tyres off the Brazilian’s car. Burti was taken to hospital in Li?, where his condition was said to be “stable and comfortable.” Remarkably, he is expected to be fit to race in the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday week.Here, proceedings were brought to a crawl by the introduction of the safety car and then to a halt. When they set off again Schumacher’s brother, Ralf, was left high and dry, the Williams-BMW marooned on jacks, compounding the team’s embarrassment and despair. Williams had occupied both places on the front row of the grid but Juan Pablo Montoya, on pole, was removed from the equation when his car failed to pull off at the head of the formation lap.The elder Schumacher, effectively on pole for the new race, again made a clean start, pulled away and this time nothing interrupted his appointment with history. His Ferrari was in perfect harmony with the contours of this majestic circuit and Schumacher duly became the most prodigious winner in Grand Prix racing at the venue where his precocious talent had been revealed to the world.Italy’s Giancarlo Fisichella, armed with a transformed Benetton-Renault, catapulted from sixth place to second and held up the rest long enough for Schumacher to establish an unassailable advantage.

He won slowing down, eventually crossing the line 10 seconds ahead of David Coulthard’s McLaren-Mercedes.Mika Hakkinen was fourth in the other McLaren, Rubens Barrichello fifth in the second Ferrari and Jean Alesi held off Ralf Schumacher to take sixth place for Jordan- Honda.The older Schumacher restrained any inclinations towards triumphalism to express his relief that Burti had escaped his accident relatively unscathed. The four times world champion said: “I was told by my team before the restart that Luciano was not too bad and in the circumstances in good shape With these speeds this can happen. I don’t know whether the tyres caused a problem and it’s something we need to analyse but everyone has done a good job to improve the safety there There used to be a kink there We still have to learn and improve. The way it happened was unusual but we will never have total safety.”Irvine said: “I was taking my line out of Stavelot and into Blanchimont. There wasn’t anything unusual about my entry into the corner but midway through it I felt an impact on the rear and after that I was a passenger. I knew Luciano was there, but I simply didn’t expect him to have a go on the inside of that corner.

He hit the wall very hard indeed and I’m just thankful he is OK.”The head and neck restraint system played a key role in saving Luciano from serious injury. I was the first on the scene and his head was literally pushed over to one side by the weight of the tyres.”Schumacher, having completed the business of winning the championship a fortnight earlier in Hungary, confirmed his pledge there that he was intent on accumulating more victories. He said: “To get my 52nd race at Spa, one of the traditional circuits, is great. To win here is always special and I have loads of memories that I have collected over the past 10 years. It was not a big fight this time and not that exciting for those watching but the feeling is still right. Winning so close to my home adds to the satisfaction.”It also served as some consolation for that less than glorious German performance on Saturday evening.

Schumacher, an avid football fan, said: “I’m obviously disappointed about what happened there but it’s a long time since England beat us in Germany so I can live with it.”Jenson Button, driving the other Benetton, seemed to be living with the pace but eventually crashed into the wall at the Bus Stop chicane.SCHUMACHER’S 52 GRANDS PRIX VICTORIESFOR BENETTON1992 (1) Belgium.1993 (1) Portugal.1994 (8) Brazil, Pacific (Aida, Japan), San Marino, Monaco, Canada, France, Hungary, European (Jerez, Spain).1995 (9) Brazil, Spain, Monaco, France, Germany, Belgium, European, Pacific (Aida), Japan.FOR FERRARI1996 (3) Spain, Belgium, Italy.1997 (5) Monaco, Canada, France, Belgium, Japan.1998 (6) Argentina, Canada, France, Britain, Hungary, Italy.1999 (2) San Marino, Monaco.2000 (9) Australia, Brazil, San Marino, European (N?rgring, Germany), Canada, Italy, US, Japan, Malaysia.2001 (8) Australia, Malaysia, Spain, Monaco, European (N?rgring), France, Hungary, Belgium.SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS DETAILS1 M Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 1hr 15min 31.935sec (average speed 221.050kph)2 D Coultard (GB) McLaren-Mercedes +10.098sec3 G Fisichella (It) Benetton-Renault +27.7424 M Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes +36.0875 R Barrichello (Br) Ferrari +54.5216 J Alesi (Fr) Jordan-Honda +59.6847 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams-BMW +59.9868 J Villeneuve (Can) BAR-Honda +64.9709 H-H Frentzen (Ger) Prost-Acer +l lap10 J Verstappen (Neth) Arrows-Asiatech +1 lap11 O Panis (Fr) BAR-Hionda +1 lap12 E Bernoldi (Br) Arrows-Asiatech +1 lap13 T Marques (Br) Minardi-European +4 lapsNot classified: J Trulli (It) Jordan-Honda 35 laps completed; J Button (GB) Benetton-Renault 21 laps; J P Montoya (Col) Williams-BMW 5 laps; P de la Rosa (Sp) Jaguar 5 laps; K Raikkonen (Fin) Sauber-Petronas 4 laps; N Heidfield (Ger) Sauber-Petronas 4 laps; E Irvine (GB) Jaguar 3 laps; L Burti (Br) Prost-Acer 3 laps; F Alonson (Sp) Minardi-European 2 lapsFastest lap: M Schumacher 1min 49.758sec (228.546kph).CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP1 Ferrari 152pts2 McLaren-Mercedes 813 Williams-BMW 594 Sauber-Petronas 205 BAR-Honda 166 Jordan-Honda 167 Benetton-Renault 108 Jaguar Racing 59 Prost-Acer 410 Arrows-Asiatech 111 Minardi-European 0. At the end of a week when the survival of professional rugby league in London was thrown into doubt, this was a salutary reminder that running a viable club in the heartlands can be a difficult task as well. At the end of a week when the survival of professional rugby league in London was thrown into doubt, this was a salutary reminder that running a viable club in the heartlands can be a difficult task as well.
While the Broncos were watched by their smallest crowd of the season – just a handful of them from London – the Reds continued their dismal form under the caretaker coach, Steve McCormack. If his players want him to get the job permanently, they have a funny way of showing it.Salford did at least put the Broncos under some pressure at the start of the second half, but it rebounded on them when Nigel Roy defused a Bobbie Goulding bomb and Barnett took a quick tap on the 20m line and raced the rest of the way for a spectacular second try.Martin who also finished with nine goals, then took Moran’s pass to exploit further holes in the Salford defence.