Spurs' Dolby wins first Beijing race

Dolby took the lead during the mandatory pitstops, having run second during the opening stint to Roma's Julien Jousse. But Jousse lost time with a sticking left-rear wheel at his stop, and was then given a drive-through penalty soon after for jumping the start.

"The boys did a great job to leapfrog Roma in the pits," said Dolby, who had never raced on a street circuit before. "After that, I took it easy and saved the tyres for race two, and cruised round enjoying it at the end."

Poleman Alvaro Parente (Porto) lost fuel pressure on the run to the rolling start, and Jousse jumped ahead of the other front row starter Dolby to lead the opening 13 laps. After his penalty, Jousse would finish eighth.

Franck Perera inherited second for Bordeaux, while the star of the race was Liverpool's Frederic Vervisch, who stormed from 15th to third. His pass on Tristan Gommendy (Lyon) at the exit of the controversial final chicane, the layout of which almost caused a drivers' strike this morning following Andy Soucek's huge crash there in qualifying, was the move of the race.

"I tried to stay with Roma and Tottenham, but they were faster than me," said Perera. "I was catching Craig at the end, but second place is good."

Vervisch added: "I knew I was quite fast, but didn't expect a podium."

Gommendy finished fourth, ahead of Adrian Valles (Sporting Lisbon), Earl Bamber (PSV) and Yelmer Buurman (AC Milan).

In an incident-packed race, Marcos Martinez (Sevilla) and Atletico Madrid's Paul Meijer took each other out at the first chicane in a battle over fifth place early on. Then a spinning John Martin (Beijing Guoan) and a stranded Giacomo Ricci (Galatasaray) brought out a safety car.

Team China's Adderly Fong was classified 10th but suffered a hefty impact with the Turn 1 wall, when he clipped a kerb and his front wing got stuck under his front wheels.

Pos  Driver             Team                          Time/Gap
 1.  Craig Dolby        Tottenham Hotspur           40m05.209s
 2.  Franck Perera      Girondins de Bordeaux         + 3.047s
 3.  Frederic Vervisch  Liverpool FC                  + 4.891s
 4.  Tristan Gommendy   Olympique Lyonnais           + 11.747s
 5.  Adrian Valles      Sporting Clube de Portugal   + 13.932s
 6.  Earl Bamber        PSV Eindhoven                + 16.099s
 7.  Yelmer Buurman     AC Milan                     + 16.714s
 8.  Julien Jousse      AS Roma                      + 19.397s
 9.  Ben Hanley         Olympiacos                   + 46.750s

Retirements:

     Adderly Fong       Team China                  17 laps
     John Martin        Beijing Guoan               3 laps
     Giacomo Ricci      Galatasaray                 2 laps
     Davide Rigon       RSC Anderlecht              0 laps
     Paul Meijer        Atletico de Madrid          0 laps
     Alvaro Parente     FC Porto                    0 laps
     Marcos Martinez    Sevilla FC                  0 laps