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Basel's Wissel wins chaotic race two

Max Wissel was the one constant in a chaotic second Superleague Formula race at Magny-Cours in France on Sunday, leading from start to finish for FC Basel. But behind him, it was anything but calm and collected

Wissel, who crashed out at the first corner of race one, had two sets of fresh tyres to start from pole position in race two. He streaked into a 9.5-second lead from the start, but this was negated by a safety car period on lap seven, when Sebastien Bourdais (Lyon) took out fellow Frenchmen Franck Montagny (Bordeaux) and Franck Perera (Flamengo).

The safety car failed to pick up Wissel, however, and as a result he was almost a lap ahead of everyone else when he caught the rear of the crocodile of cars. The safety car then released the pack, but this coincided with the pitstop window opening, so the entire field pitted as one - including Wissel, who benefited greatly.

In the confusion, race one winner Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) was delayed by being forced to stack in the pits behind his team-mates. Along with John Martin (Beijing Guoan) and James Walker (Liverpool), they went a lap down through no real fault of their own.

Even more bizarrely, the safety car then came in and the race went green even though the crocodile of cars was not fully formed behind it. So Wissel led the lapped cars of Buurman, Walker and Martin on the road, with second-placed Julien Jousse (Roma) 13s behind.

"I don't know what happened behind me with the safety car," said Wissel. "It was quite easy, I was really quick. I had a puncture anyway, so I had to pit when I did."

Behind Jousse, Assen winner Davide Rigon finished third for Anderlecht, while Tristan Gommendy was a late retirement from fourth for Galatasaray, so series leader Craig Dolby (Tottenham) was gifted the place.

Borja Garcia finished sixth for Sporting Lisbon. Buurman was classified a lapped eighth, behind Maria de Villota (Atletico Madrid).

Pos  Driver               Team                      Time/Gap
 1.  Max Wissel           FC Basel                46m21.647s
 2.  Julien Jousse        AS Roma                  + 21.327s
 3.  Davide Rigon         RSC Anderlecht           + 29.965s
 4.  Craig Dolby          Tottenham Hotspur        + 41.464s
 5.  Borja Garcia         Sporting                 + 47.992s
 6.  Maria de Villota     Atletico de Madrid     + 1m20.287s
 7.  Yelmer Buurman       AC Milan                   + 1 lap
 8.  James Walker         Liverpool FC               + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Tristan Gommendy     Galatasaray            25 laps
     John Martin          Beijing Guoan          20 laps
     Alvaro Parente       FC Porto               18 laps
     Chris van der Drift  Olympiacos             7 laps
     Franck Perera        Flamengo               7 laps
     Franck Montagny      Girondins de Bordeaux  6 laps
     Sebastien Bourdais   Olympique Lyonnais     6 laps
     Robert Doornbos      Corinthians            1 lap
     Marcos Martinez      Sevilla FC             0 laps

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