Combe race 1: Van der Merwe wins

The South African was made to work hard for his victory, though, as Adam Carroll pushed him hard all the way.

Starting from pole position, Danny Watts appeared to have the race under control, but he got it wrong on the sixth lap, all on his own, and had a spin on the exit of Camp corner. Although he rejoined down the order, Watts's race was to last little longer as he clashed with Tor Graves at Quarry on the following lap, bringing out the Safety Car for the next three laps.

This left van der Merwe, who'd blasted from fourth to second place by the first corner on the opening lap, in control, but with Carroll snapping at his heels.Once the Safety Car withdrew, he was pressed even harder by Carroll, but this pressure was relieved when Carroll got off line at Bobby's with six laps to go. The South African wasn't home and dry, though, as Carroll closed in again and literally pushed him across the finish line at the end of the race.

Robert Dahlgren completed the podium positions, with Ronnie Bremer, Fortec's new signing Will Power and Clivio Piccione filling out the top six, with ninth-placed Nelson Piquet Jr left to rue the positions he lost in an attempt to avoid the clash between Richard Antinuuci and Rob Austin on the opening lap.


1 Alan van der Merwe (Carlin) Dallara-Mugen
2 Adam Carroll (Menu) Dallara-Opel
3 Robert Dahlgren (Fortec) Dallara-Renault
4 Ronnie Bremer (Carlin) Dallara-Mugen
5 Will Power (Fortec) Dallara-Renault
6 Clivio Piccione (Manor) Dallara-Mugen
7 Jamie Green (Carlin) Dallara-Mugen
8 Eric Salignon (Hitech) Dallara-Renault
9 Nelson Piquet Jr (Piquet) Dallara-Mugen
10 Scott Speed (Docking) Dallara-Mugen