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Turvey takes first FR3.5 win in Monaco

Oliver Turvey converted pole position into a breakthrough Formula Renault 3.5 victory with a flawless performance in Monaco today

The Penrith resident, on his rookie appearance in the principality, held off sustained pressure from Adrian Zaugg to win by 0.6 seconds.

"It has been a trouble-free weekend since touching the barrier with about two laps of free practice left on Thursday," said Turvey. "I knew where the limit was, my last lap in qualifying was a great lap and that set up the victory.

"I was just looking in my mirrors and controlling the race, I don't think Zaugg was ever really close enough to make a move. It's amazing to win here in front of the Formula 1 teams."

Front row qualifier James Walker was jumped by Zaugg away from the start. Although the P1 Motorsport driver initially shadowed the South African, Walker dropped back and settled for third over the final laps.

Championship leader Marcos Martinez was forced to retire from fourth place with rear brake trouble, promoting Ultimate Motorsport's Miguel Molina into the position. Molina headed a closely fought six-car train, but there was to be no overtaking among the group.

Second in the standings entering the weekend, Draco's Bertrand Baguette added to his points tally with fifth place.

There was bitter luck for Pasquale di Sabatino after one of the strongest runs of the Italian's three year Formula Renault 3.5 tenure ended when his RC Motorsport machine came to a halt on the entry to the Swimming Pool.

The visibly dejected di Sabatino's misfortune allowed British Formula 3 champion Jaime Alguersuari up to sixth place. Alguersuari had made a stellar start from 10th on the grid to leapfrog Epsilon Euskadi's pairing of Adrian Valles and Chris van der Drift on the opening lap.

Red Bull Formula 1 reserve driver Brendon Hartley was upset to be hit by two drivethrough penalties for cutting Monaco's chicane, despite his protestations that he had backed off after each occasion. The Kiwi, taking part in his final confirmed race with Tech 1 Racing, salvaged some honour by setting a resounding fastest lap.

Fellow F3 Euro Series racer Jules Bianchi started from the pitlane in his debut, and likely only, appearance with SG Formula. The Frenchman's race ended after sustaining right rear suspension damage from clipping the barriers on the exit of the final part of the Swimming Pool.

Pos  Driver                Team         Time
 1.  Oliver Turvey         Carlin       39m24.975s
 2.  Adrian Zaugg          Interwetten  +   0.661s
 3.  James Walker          P1           +   3.595s
 4.  Miguel Molina         Ultimate     +   8.288s
 5.  Bertrand Baguette     Draco        +   9.337s
 6.  Jaime Alguersuari     Carlin       +  10.039s
 7.  Chris van der Drift   Epsilon      +  10.431s
 8.  Adrian Valles         Epsilon      +  11.123s
 9.  Charles Pic           Tech 1       +  11.462s
10.  Stefano Coletti       Prema        +  13.856s
11.  Sten Pentus           Fortec       +  21.570s
12.  John Martin           Comtec       +  24.496s
13.  Greg Mansell          Ultimate     +  24.948s
14.  Julian Leal           Prema        +  29.017s
15.  Fairuz Fauzy          Fortec       +  33.215s
16.  Marco Barba           Draco        +  37.923s
17.  Brendon Hartley       Tech 1       +  43.753s
18.  Federico Leo          Pons         +  58.671s
19.  Max Chilton           Comtec       +1m15.452s
20.  Anton Nebylitskiy     SG           +1m20.321s
21.  Filip Salaquarda      RC           +    1 lap

Retirements:

     Jules Bianchi         SG           16 laps
     Pasquale di Sabatino  RC           11 laps
     Marcos Martinez       Pons          7 laps
     Daniil Move           P1            0 laps
     Mihai Marinescu       Interwetten   0 laps

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