Grosjean takes controversial win

The Frenchman qualified only third at Brands Hatch - behind the Manor Motorsport duo of James Jakes and Franck Mailleux - but a flying start allowed the ASM driver to snatch the lead into Paddock, which he did not lose thereafter.

Not so fortunate at the start was Mailleux. As Grosjean came alongside the Manor car, Grosjean jinked to the left as he attempted to go around the outside of Jakes.

But he was not completely ahead of Mailleux, and Grosjean hit his fellow Frenchman as he went past, sending Mailleux into the wall and out of the race.

Despite the contact, Grosjean was able to continue and lead the car round behind the safety car, which had been scrambled to clear up Mailleux's mess.

Grosjean held the lead at the restart, and he and Jakes soon started to pull clear of Kamui Kobayashi in third.

Jakes chased Grosjean for the rest of the race but was never able to get close enough to try an overtaking manoeuvre around the twisty Kent circuit.

Ultimately, he had to settle for the runner-up spot, just over a second behind Grosjean.

Kobayashi lacked the pace to stay with the lead pair, but he was able to hold off the ASM machine of Nico Hulkenberg.

The A1GP star never looked like making a move on Kobayashi but was under no threat from behind due to a three-car fight between Tim Sandtler, Yelmar Burman and erstwhile championship leader Sebastien Buemi.

Sandlter had impressed in qualifying to put his Jo Zeller Racing Dallara on row four, and he then jumped Buurman on the opening lap.

Buurman's Manor Motorsport car seemed quicker than Sandtler and he was able to get close on the run to Clearways on a number of occasions.

Once there, however, the dirty air prevented him from staying close as they came on to the start/finish straight and he was forced to settle for sixth.

Buemi tracked the pair ahead for much of the race, but resisted trying to make a rash move. His seventh place means that he will start the reverse-grid race on Sunday from the front row.

He will be joined by Edoardo Mortara. The Signature-Plus driver held off Yann Clairay and Tom Dillmann throughout the race to secure himself the all-important pole for tomorrow.

Classified:

Pos  Driver             Make               Time
 1.  Romain Grosjean    Dallara/Mercedes   40:40.093
 2.  James Jakes        Dallara/Mercedes   +   1.139
 3.  Kamui Kobayashi    Dallara/Mercedes   +   8.541
 4.  N.Hulkenberg       Dallara/Mercedes   +   9.300
 5.  Tim Sandtler       Dallara/Mercedes   +  14.146
 6.  Yelmer Buurman     Dallara/Mercedes   +  14.565
 7.  S?bastien Buemi    Dallara/Mercedes   +  15.106
 8.  Edoardo Mortara    Dallara/Mercedes   +  25.823
 9.  Yann Clairay       Dallara/Mercedes   +  26.711
10.  Tom Dillmann       Dallara/Mercedes   +  27.525
11.  Daniel Clos        Dallara/Mercedes   +  28.307
12.  H.Schlegelmilch    Dallara/Mercedes   +  33.070
13.  R.van der Zande    Dallara/Mercedes   +  33.587
14.  Filip Salaquarda   Dallara/Mercedes   +  36.565
15.  Edoardo Piscopo    Dallara/Mercedes   +  40.562
16.  Jean-Karl Vernay   Dallara/Mercedes   +  41.279
17.  Michael Patrizi    Dallara/Mercedes   +  41.855
18.  Marco Holzer       Dallara/Opel       +  1 Lap
19.  Basil Shaaban      Dallara/Mercedes   + 10 Laps

Not Classified:

     Driver             Make               Laps
     Sergei Afanasiev   Dallara/Mercedes    8
     Franck Mailleux    Dallara/Mercedes    0
     Cyndie Allemann    Dallara/Mercedes    0

Fastest lap: Grosjean, 42.423 on lap 14