A year after almost losing her life in a gruesome racing accident, former Formula One test driver Maria de Villota was found dead in a hotel room in Seville on Friday -- with an autopsy showing that lingering injuries from her wreck likely caused her death. cheap nfl jerseys . De Villota was 33. De Villotas sister, Isabel, said an autopsy indicated that she had died in her sleep around 6 a.m. local time due to "neurological damage" from her crash in July 2012. De Villota lost an eye in the accident but had since seemingly recovered from the wreck -- even driving again, writing a book about it, and recently getting married. Spanish police said her death was from "natural causes" and that there was no indication of foul play. They said De Villotas manager alerted staff at the Hotel Sevilla Congresos after her body was found. De Villota barely survived last years crash during testing for the Marussia F1 team in England, losing her right eye and sustaining other serious head injuries that kept her hospitalized for a month. De Villota, a Madrid native, was the daughter of Emilio de Villota, who competed in F1 from 1976-82. Her family used de Villotas Facebook page to say "Dear friends: Maria has left us. She had to go to heaven like all angels. I give thanks to God for the year and a half that he left her with us." F1 officials and drivers at the Japanese Grand Prix were stunned by her death. "My deepest condolences go to the de Villota family," said FIA president Jean Todt. "Maria was a fantastic driver, a leading light for women in motorsport and a tireless campaigner for road safety. Above all she was a friend I deeply admired." McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said as the chairman of the Formula One Teams Association the "whole paddock is very shocked by the news that Maria is no longer with us. "She was an inspiration not just to women in this sport, but also to all those who suffered life-threatening injuries." Saubers Monisha Kaltenhorn, the first female team principal in F1, said, "If anybody represented strength and optimism, it was Maria. Her sudden death is a big loss to the motorsport world." Williams development driver Susie Wolff recalled how de Villota asked her to carry on for her and all women drivers following her accident. "She very much said to me after it, Its up to you to go out there and show them that it (a woman driver in F1) is possible," Wolff said. "She knew that women could compete at that level and thats why, after her accident and her not being able to do that anymore, she just wanted someone to know it was possible. She had such a spirit for life. What she came through was a testament to her strength of character and her positive outlook on life." Marussia expressed its condolences. "It is with great sadness that we learned a short time ago of the news that Maria de Villota has passed away," Marussia said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Marias family and friends at this very difficult time." Fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso said: "Its very sad news for the world of motorsport as Maria was loved by everyone. Now, all we can do is pray for her and for her family." De Villota also had driven in the world touring car championship in 2006 and 2007 plus the Superleague open-wheel series. She was in Seville to participate in the conference "What Really Matters," whose mission is to inspire and teach young people "universal human values," in the words of the organizers. Organizers cancelled the conference on receiving news of her death and issued a statement "transmitting their care and support to the family and loved ones of Maria de Villota." De Villota was the first Spanish woman to drive an F1 car. Sport minister Jose Wert announced that she would be posthumously awarded Spains Gold Medal of Sporting Merit. Other leading figures of Spanish sports also expressed their condolences. Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta extended his sympathies to her family while top-ranked tennis player Rafael Nadal said it was "very bad news for the world of sport in general, for the Spanish sport especially." De Villota accident last year occurred while she was driving an F1 car for only the fourth time -- and first for Marussia -- and hit a support truck during a straight-line exercise near an airfield in England. An internal team investigation concluded the car was not at fault. She first drove an F1 car in 2011, a Renault at the Paul Ricard circuit in Marseille, France. Her death comes when de Villota seemed to be moving past her accident. She told Hola magazine in February she felt "free" and "back to being me" after returning to driving on normal roads. She returned to a F1 paddock for the first time in May at the Spanish GP. There she told the AP that she felt a mix of "adrenaline and also a little bit of sadness" on again being near the sport that almost cost her her life. In July, she married boyfriend Rodrigo Garcia. She was active in charity work and a member of the FIAs womens commission. On Monday, she was to present a book "Life is a Gift," detailing her ordeal following her driving accident. nfl cheap jerseys . But before the Oilers can plug those numbers into the equation, theyll have to beat the Anaheim Ducks at Rexall Place on Thursday and the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday. cheap jerseys china .C. -- The Edmonton Oilers used a late-power-play goal to get a hard-fought road victory. San Antonio, TX (Sports Network) - Gary Neal gave San Antonio new life and the Spurs capitalized on their overtime opportunity to remain alive in their first-round series with the Memphis Grizzlies. Neal hit the tying three-pointer at the end of regulation, and the Spurs surged in overtime for a 110-103 win over the Grizzlies to send this Western Conference quarterfinal series to a sixth game. San Antonio, still in danger of becoming the second top-seeded team to lose a best-of-seven series in the first round, is behind 3-2 to the No. 8 seeded Grizzlies. Game 6 is Friday night in Memphis. Tony Parker scored six of his 24 points in the extra session and had nine assists for the Spurs, who received a game-high 33 points from Manu Ginobili. Tim Duncan had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Zach Randolph had 26 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Grizzlies, who also got 20 points from Mike Conley. Marc Gasol added 11 points and 17 rebounds, but his air ball led to a 24-second violation in the last minute of overtime. As a team weve got to be able to wash this one away, the taste of it away, realize what we didnt do and come back ready to go Friday in front of our home crowd, Conley said. The Spurs had two incredible shots in the last 2.2 seconds of regulation to essentially save their season. Randolph hit a pair of foul shots for a 95-92 difference with 9.4 seconds left. Then, after the Grizzlies nearly came away with the ensuing inbounds pass, Ginobili somehow, falling out of bounds, hit a long shot from the right corner. The bucket with 2.2 seconds left was originally ruled a three-pointer, but was changed to a two when replays showed Ginobilis left foot was on the line. I didnt even see the rim, Ginobili said. I had Marc on top of me, falling out of bounds. I just got lucky, thats the truth. Randolph then sank two more from the charity stripe for a 97-94 score with 1.7 seconds to go. Following another Spurs timeout, Neal, a rookie, received the inbounds pass at the ttop of the arc and delivered the incredible tying shot, breathing new life into the Spurs and their fans.dddddddddddd We hung in tough. Thats all about character, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. Parker then sparkled in overtime to spur San Antonio to victory. His pull-up shot from the left elbow with nearly 1 1/2 minutes left gave the hosts a 105-103 edge. Tony Allen was way off on a three-point try at the other end, but misses from Parker and Antonio McDyess gave the Grizzlies a shot for the tie. Memphis, which went 1-of-7 from the field in OT, was called for a shot clock violation on its next possession. Gasol was under pressure from Duncan and his fall-away jumper hit nothing with 21.3 seconds left. George Hill sank two foul shots with 18.6 seconds left and Ginobili made three more to seal the outcome. I think we were down after the loss of the lead when they did it up at the end, Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. We had too many guys who were hurt and not mature enough at this stage to just let it go, play and get the win. Duncan had 11 points in the first quarter, helping the Spurs to a 20-14 lead after 12 minutes. Conley, though, had 10 in the second, a period in which the Grizzlies went 12-of-18 from the field. That helped the visitors cut what was a 16-point deficit to eight at halftime. The problem was Ginobili went for 15 points in the stanza, as the Spurs widened the margin to 50-42 at halftime. They were up as many as 35-19 after a layup from Tiago Splitter. San Antonio went in the tank in the third quarter, shooting 4-of-17. The Grizzlies went on an 18-5 run to take a 68-63 lead on Gasols layup with a minute left. Hill then sank two free throws for the final points of the period. Two free throws from Sam Young extended Memphis advantage to 86-80 with under five minutes left, but it wouldnt hold. GAME NOTES:Hill had 12 points...The Spurs shot 7-of-22 from three-point range...Young had 18 points...Memphis held a 50-45 rebounding advantage. ' ' '
