Montoya climbed from his car with almost unnatural calmness waving to the appreciative crowd as he began the long walk home

Montoya climbed from his car with almost unnatural calmness, waving to the appreciative crowd as he began the long walk home. He had, he knew, laid clear claim to Schumacher’s crown.Now it was a straight fight between Coulthard, who pitted on the 40th lap, and Schumacher, the odds favouring the German as the rain finally arrived on lap 45 Schumacher stopped for wet tyres on the 46th lap. But when Coulthard stayed out it seemed he had lost the race continuing for a lap too far. Schumacher had already overtaken him as the McLaren edged away from its pit at the end of its 47th lap. But then Schumacher spun on lap 48, giving the Scot another chance. He snatched the moment as they sped by the pits a lap later, squeezing inside the Ferrari in a breathtaking move as they lapped Tarso Marques’ European Minardi.Now Coulthard was reversing McLaren’s Malaysian defeat, walking away from the Ferrari with insouciant ease as Schumacher’s choice of intermediate compound tyres on this occasion proved wrong.

But as the track began to dry again, the Scot could never relax. Schumacher, however, damaged his car with an off-course excursion, leaving the Scot to a memorable triumph.RACE RESULT1 D Coulthard (GB) McLaren2 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari3 N Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber4 O Panis (Fr) BAR5 J Trulli (It) Jordan6 G Fisichella (It) BenettonDid not finish: R Barrichello (Br) Ferrari; M Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren; E Bernoldi (Br) Arrows; J Button (GB) Benetton; J P Montoya (Col) Williams; K Raikkonen (Fin) Sauber; H-H Frentzen (Ger) Jordan.Drivers standings: 1 M Schumacher 26pts; 2 Coulthard 20; 3 Barrichello 10; 4 Heidfeld 7; 5 Frentzen 5; 6 Panis 3; 7= R Schumacher (Ger) Williams 2, Truilli 2; 9= Raikkonen 1, Hakkinen 1, G Fisichella (It) 1.Constructors standings: 1 Ferrari 36pts; 2 McLaren 21; 3 Sauber 8; 4 Jordan 7; 5 BAR 3; 6 Williams 2; 7 Benetton 1.. So the title race really is on in Wales. Recovering from the disappointment of losing to Swansea in the quarter-finals of the Principality Cup the previous weekend, Cardiff kept alive their hopes of retaining the Welsh/Scottish League crown with a commanding second-half performance

So the title race really is on in Wales. Recovering from the disappointment of losing to Swansea in the quarter-finals of the Principality Cup the previous weekend, Cardiff kept alive their hopes of retaining the Welsh/Scottish League crown with a commanding second-half performance.
A grim slog in unacceptable levels of mud and sand at the Arms Park ended with Cardiff closing the gap at the top of the table to try count, although Scott Gibbs’ side still have a game in hand on their big city rivals.Cardiff, and especially their coach Lyn Howells, now have to hope that the All Whites slip up again on the run-in.

Swansea have five games to play, three of them at home, while Cardiff’s fate could turn on the outcome of their away day at Llanelli on 5 May.Anything could still happen, especially as the scrap for a top five finish behind the top two sides means that one of either Newport, Bridgend, Llanelli or Neath is going to miss out on a place in the Heineken Cup next season.Swansea have home and away fixtures with Bridgend, and also have to host Newport. Cardiff, meanwhile, face two games with Caerphilly and a home match with bottom-of-the-table Cross Keys.Winning a trophy is vital to Cardiff’s prestige. The manner of their exit from the Heineken Cup at Gloucester in the quarter-finals still hurts. A late charge to win the Welsh/Scottish League is one thing, but the real yardstick for the club that styled themselves “The Greatest” in their centenary season is how they match up to Europe’s finest. Cardiff’s potential is not in doubt, but their organisation still leaves a bit to be desired.No doubt that is why the club are scouring the country for a top-level commercial manager at present and trying to persuade the part-time team manager Rob Norster to take a more hands-on role in a full-time capacity.Thankfully, on the field the club can always rely on Neil Jenkins and Rob Howley to direct operations in a meaningful fashion. The Welsh half-backs controlled the game magnificently with the wind at their backs in the second half as the home side came rampaging back into the contest.Three wind-assisted penalties from the Swansea outside-half Gavin Henson were enough to give the league leaders a slender interval advantage over two from Jenkins.Jenkins levelled the scores early in the second half with his third before an injury to the Canadian flanker Dan Baugh forced him to be replaced by Polish international Gregori Kacala.The conditions suited Kacala and he made some telling contributions in the close-quarter struggle, none more so than when he twice supported Howley’s incisive break from a scrum in the Swansea 22 to pave the way for the first try.With the Swansea defence stretched to the limit, Jenkins was able to send a long pass to his wing Paul Jones, who stepped out of a tackle to score on the hour. Another followed from the replacement prop Ken Fourie and a late riposte from Paul Moriarty merely made the scoreline more presentable for the visitors.Cardiff: Tries P Jones, K Fourie; Conversion N Jenkins; Penalties N Jenkins 3.

Swansea: Try P Moriarty; Penalties G Henson 3.Cardiff: R Williams (P Muller, 67); P Jones, J Robinson, G Thomas, C Morgan; N Jenkins, R Howley; S John (A Lewis, 74), J Humphreys, D Young (capt )(K Fourie, 59), C Quinnell (S Moore, 69), M Voyle, D Baugh (G Kacala, 45), E Lewis, M Williams.Swansea: K Morgan; R Rees, S Gibbs (capt), M Taylor, M Robinson; G Henson (C Rees, 75), R Jones (S Martens, 51); D Morris, G Jenkins (G Smith, 63), B Evans (C Anthony, 66), T Maullin, A Moore (J Griffiths, 63), P Moriarty, L Jones, D Thomas.Referee: N Whitehouse (Swansea).. Every now and again, a single substitution makes a coach look cleverer than Socrates and more clued in than Copernicus: just think back to last November, when Clive Woodward introduced the raw match-winning ability of Iain Balshaw to the red rose mix against the world champions of Australia at Twickenham. Phil Davies, one of the finest Welsh forwards of the post-war era, must have been paying attention that afternoon, because his key tactical intervention yesterday blew a hole the size of Jonah Lomu in Worcester’s expensively constructed Premiership ambitions. Every now and again, a single substitution makes a coach look cleverer than Socrates and more clued in than Copernicus: just think back to last November, when Clive Woodward introduced the raw match-winning ability of Iain Balshaw to the red rose mix against the world champions of Australia at Twickenham. Phil Davies, one of the finest Welsh forwards of the post-war era, must have been paying attention that afternoon, because his key tactical intervention yesterday blew a hole the size of Jonah Lomu in Worcester’s expensively constructed Premiership ambitions.
After 51 minutes of raucous thud and blunder at Headingley ­ to all intents and purposes a promotion decider ­ the Leeds coach withdrew Dan Hyde, a real sweat-bucket of a blind-side flanker, and sent on Ian Clarke, a 19-year-old loose forward with England pedigree in his DNA Within 10 minutes, Clarke had won the game for his side. Within 18, he had reduced one of the biggest club rugby occasions ever witnessed in Yorkshire into something akin to a rout “For a teenager, he’s terrific,” beamed Davies.