Newcomer Jani wins for Olympiacos

Series debutant Jani, subbing for the injured Chris van der Drift, leaped into the lead at the first corner after a chaotic rolling start, which stewards investigated after a number of cars appeared to jump the front row which is supposed to dictate the pace until the green lights come on. But Jani was already ahead on the run to the opening corner, and did not look back.

Jani won by almost 10 seconds ahead of Tristan Gommendy, an impressive result for the Frenchman after the running of the car switched to series newcomer DriveX. Robert Doornbos finished third for Corinthians, ensuring he has scored the most points this weekend and will start the super final from pole position.

"I would never have thought it would be such a big win," said Jani. "They [the front row] slowed down in front suddenly, so I almost crashed, but it turned out to be a great start instead. I'm really happy."

Gmmendy, who did not even have a seat made to drive in first practice, added: "It was a really tough weekend, I didn't know the track or the team, at the end this is fantastic."

The championship protagonists suffered varying fortunes. Craig Dolby (Spurs) lost his front wing in the chaotic opening corners, while Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan) was forced into the gravel on the opening lap when Celso Miguez spun in front of him. Buurman recovered to run 11th, but was later forced out with a gearbox failure.

That left new series leader Davide Rigon to cruise to ninth place and extend the lead for Anderlecht.

Pos  Driver             Team                   Time/Gap
 1.  Neel Jani          Olympiacos           46m00.710s
 2.  Tristan Gommendy   Olympique Lyonnais     + 9.385s
 3.  Robert Doornbos    Corinthians           + 11.448s
 4.  Max Wissel         FC Basel              + 14.223s
 5.  Andy Soucek        Galatasaray           + 17.657s
 6.  Frederic Vervisch  Liverpool FC          + 24.399s
 7.  Duncan Tappy       Flamengo              + 31.154s
 8.  Hywel Lloyd        PSV Eindhoven         + 39.110s
 9.  Davide Rigon       RSC Anderlecht        + 41.007s
10.  Julien Jousse      AS Roma               + 43.898s
11.  John Martin        Beijing Guoan       + 1m04.662s
12.  Maria de Villota   Atletico de Madrid  + 1m09.075s
13.  Craig Dolby        Tottenham Hotspur       + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Celso Miguez       Girondins           12 laps
     Maximo Cortes      Sporting            9 laps
     Yelmer Buurman     AC Milan            8 laps
     Alvaro Parente     FC Porto            8 laps
     Marcos Martinez    Sevilla FC          6 laps