Bortolotti romps to sixth win in opening race at Barcelona

Only Miki Monras could live with Bortolotti, but even his challenge faded late on in the wake of the Italian's punishing pace and consistency.

Having had his lead trimmed to around one second on lap seven, Bortolotti began to ease away and by the close was taking chunks from Monras. His winning margin eventually stood at almost nine seconds, and he set his fastest lap of the race on his final tour to underline his dominance.

"This is my first win in Barcelona, so I'm very happy about that," Bortolotti said. "I want to dedicate this win to Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli, two big racing heroes."

Behind Monras, Spaniard Ramon Pineiro finished third to guarantee himself a top three spot in the championship, and with it a prize GP2 test.

Pineiro has a mathematical chance of depriving Christopher Zanella of second in the championship in tomorrow's season finale. Zanella, who finished sixth, will also receive a GP2 test.

Fourth went to Tobias Hegewald, who was shadowed for the duration of the race by Mihai Marinescu.

Jack Clarke likewise had to fend off the attentions of Zanella, but finished sixth on the road having edged out a small gap by the finish. He was handed a three-scond penalty for not respecting track limits however, dropping him one spot and behind Zanella to seventh.

Alex Brundle, Kelvin Snoeks and Mikkel Mac made it a five-way fight for sixth at times, but overtaking opportunities proved a premium and the trio remained in that order as the flag fell.

Behind them, Benjamin Lariche had a spirited drive through the field to claim 13th, having fallen to the back with a spin on the opening lap.

Race 1 Results - 22 laps:

Pos  Driver                     Time/Gap
 1.  Mirko Bortolotti         36m56.204s
 2.  Miki Monras                + 8.771s
 3.  Ramon Pineiro             + 19.846s
 4.  Tobias Hegewald           + 26.201s
 5.  Mihai Marinescu           + 26.933s
 6.  Christopher Zanella       + 41.852s
 7.  Jack Clarke               + 42.492s
 8.  Alex Brundle              + 43.033s
 9.  Kelvin Snoeks             + 43.588s
10.  Mikkel Mac                + 44.458s
11.  Thiemo Storz              + 53.761s
12.  Maxim Snegirev            + 54.783s
13.  Benjamin Lariche          + 55.198s
14.  James Cole                + 56.264s
15.  Jose Luis Abadin          + 58.425s
16.  Plamen Kralev           + 1m03.768s
17.  Parthiva Sureshwaren    + 1m14.308s

Retirements:

     Sunghak Mun                 12 laps