B' Hatch race 2: Sato wins again

Sato drew abreast of polesitter James Courtney on the approach to Paddock Hill Bend, then tenaciously clung on around the outside of both that turn and the Druids hairpin before claiming the inside line for Graham Hill Bend. From then on he was gone, Sato disappearing up the road while Courtney concentrated on holding off Anthony Davidson.

Davidson had drawn alongside both Sato and Courtney on the run to Paddock, but Sato saw him coming and jinked across to close off the options for his Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen team mate.

For the rest of another soporific 26-lapper it was typical Sato class as he drew away to win by six seconds. "Courtney is a very good racer," beamed the Japanese afterwards. "Some guys are mad, but I can't complain because sometimes I get excited! He never backed off, but he always left me room, and that's why I really enjoyed it. We both had completely sliding cars at the hairpin - really enjoyable racing. It was really exciting, honest."

Shame about the rest of the race. Courtney, a little slow in the first few laps, soon got into his rhythm and saw off Davidson, who found his tyres going off later on after his early laps bottled up behind the Jaguar Racing Dallara.

Mark Taylor jumped ahead of Manor Motorsport team mate Derek Hayes at the start and, likewise, had little trouble holding on for fourth. Hayes got closer to Taylor, depending on how hard the chasing Andre Lotterer was pushing, before getting another solid fifth place finish.

Matt Davies, Gianmaria Bruni, Alex Gurney and Jamie Spence rounded out the top 10, the last named running over Bruce Jouanny's front wing, a move which ultimately ended in the Frenchman's retirement. Andy Priaulx spun off on the first lap.

The Scholarship Class race was another tour de force from Matt Gilmore, who has now slashed the points gap to Robbie Kerr going into the final round.

From seventh on the grid, Kerr progressed instantly to fifth, but spent the rest of the race behind Ernani Judice. Ahead of them, Robert Doornbos kept the pressure on Michael Keohane for second.

Takuma Sato (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 26 laps in 18m32.534s
James Courtney (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) +6.269s
Anthony Davidson (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +7.014s
Mark Taylor (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +13.790s
Derek Hayes (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +14.864s
Andre Lotterer (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) +15.311s
Matt Davies (Team Avanti Dallara-Opel) +16.723s
Gianmaria Bruni (Fortec Dallara-Renault) +18.159s
Alex Gurney (Fortec Dallara-Renault) +19.596s
Jamie Spence (Duma Racing Dallara-Mugen) +21.291s

Fastest lap Sato 42.323s
Matt Gilmore (Performance Racing Dallara-Opel)
Michael Keohane
Robert Doornbos
Ernani Judice
Robbie Kerr
Kazuki Hoshino

Sato 333; Davidson 243; Hayes 228; Courtney 207; Lotterer 138; Bruni 136; Priaulx 126; Davies 124; Taylor 79; Jouanny 59

Kerr 323; Gilmore 312; Keohane 259; Mayall 204; Doornbos 182; Judice 149.