Hockenheim 1: Gary's glory day

Paffett made a poor start, allowing pole man Vitantonio Liuzzi to open a decent advantage over the opening lap, but Paffett soon reeled the Italian in and put him under enormous pressure over the first half of the race. Gary's title rival, meanwhile, Kousuke Matsuura (PREMA) was eliminated in a controversial clash of wheels with Paffett's team-mate Kimmo Liimatainen at the high-speed Parabolika.

With the title in the bag, Paffett's perfect day was made complete when a sudden rain shower caught out Liuzzi, causing him to slide straight on at Turn 2. That left Paffett with a healthy advantage over Timo Glock (KMS), who had got the better of an early battle with Ryan Briscoe (PREMA) to take second.

Cesar Campanico (PREMA) took fourth from ninth of the grid, ahead of Frank Diefenbacher (BSR) and Liimatainen. Liuzzi slid out of second for good at the Sachskurve on lap 10.


1 Gary Paffett, Rosberg Dallara-Opel, 18 laps
2 Timo Glock, KMS Dallara-Opel, +1.2s
3 Ryan Briscoe, PREMA Dallara-Opel, +5.3s
4 Cesar Campanico, PREMA Dallara-Opel, +5.8s
5 Frank Diefenbacher, BSR Dallara-Opel, +6.7s
6 Kimmo Liimatainen, Rosberg Dallara-Opel, +7.5s