In Formula One racing action, in a virtual replay of his performance at the Nurburgring one week earlier, Ralf Schumacher captured the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, and Juan Pablo Montoya once again finished second.

Ralf Schumacher thus scored back-to-back victories for the first time in his career by taking the chequered flag in the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours to maintain his mid-season championship surge.

The 28-year-old German followed up last Sunday's triumph on home soil in the European Grand Prix to win convincingly by almost 14 seconds from team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya and spearhead a second one-two in succession for the resurgent BMW-Williams F1 team. Ralf's brother and world champion Michael Schumacher finished third.

Ralf said, "Finally I did it from the pole position! In the first part of the race it all seemed to go very well but after the first pit stop the car did not feel so good and I lost some time. Also I was delayed by several drivers that I had to lap, especially Jarno Trulli, who I could not overtake due to a yellow flag. Regarding the light off I had in the last laps, it was my fault as I braked too late. I hope we can keep this momentum going even though we are now going to circuits that are even tougher on the car. We are definitely getting closer and closer to Ferrari but for the moment I prefer not to think about our World Championship chances as things can change so quickly in F1."

The win pushed Ralf to within 3 points of second place in the race for the world driving championship, and BMW-Williams F1 team to within 3 points of second place Ferrari in the constructors race.