Kobayashi holds on to win race one
Kamui Kobayashi converted his pole position into a F3 Euro Series race one victory at Magny-Cours on Saturday morning, despite a tense battle and a physical last lap attack from ASM teammate Romain Grosjean
Kobayashi made a great start, but Grosjean never allowed him to rest over the 30-minute duration. They left third placed Sebastian Buemi (Mucke) in a distant third after he had outdragged third-placed qualifier Yann Clairay (Signature) off the line.
After an aggressive attempt on the opening lap at Chateau d'Eau failed, Grosjean stalked Kobayashi throughout the race until the very last lap.
Then, as Kobayashi outbraked himself at the 180-degree left-hander, Grosjean, who pleaded he was taking avoiding action, instead lunged down the inside and hit him.
Rather than what happened at the Norisring two weeks ago, when the two collided and Kobayashi was forced to spin, this time Grosjean came off worst, spinning to a halt.
He had just enough advantage in hand over Buemi to rejoin in second, crossing the line 6.5 seconds down on Kobayashi, just 0.3 seconds ahead of Buemi.
Clairay finished fourth, ahead of a Manor Motorsport train comprising Franck Mailleux, James Jakes and Yelmer Buurman.
Jean Karl Vernay will start tomorrow's reverse grid race from pole after finishing eighth.
Pos Driver Car Time
1. Kamui Kobayashi Dallara/Mercedes 25:01.620
2. Romain Grosjean Dallara/Mercedes + 6.564
3. Sebastien Buemi Dallara/Mercedes + 6.878
4. Yann Clairay Dallara/Mercedes + 13.784
5. Franck Mailleux Dallara/Mercedes + 14.211
6. James Jakes Dallara/Mercedes + 14.631
7. Yelmer Buurman Dallara/Mercedes + 15.062
8. Jean-Karl Vernay Dallara/Mercedes + 19.528
9. Tom Dillmann Dallara/Mercedes + 22.733
10. Tim Sandtler Dallara/Mercedes + 30.649
11. Daniel Clos Dallara/Mercedes + 30.968
12. R.van der Zande Dallara/Mercedes + 31.661
13. Edoardo Piscopo Dallara/Mercedes + 32.222
14. H.Schlegelmilch Dallara/Mercedes + 37.698
15. E.Guerrieri Mygale/Mercedes + 38.391
16. Edoardo Mortara Dallara/Mercedes + 40.346
17. Filip Salaquarda Dallara/Mercedes + 40.667
18. Michael Devaney Mygale/Mercedes + 42.294
19. Marco Holzer Dallara/Opel + 45.684
20. Sergei Afanasiev Dallara/Mercedes + 45.946
21. Basil Shaaban Dallara/Mercedes + 50.230
22. Michael Patrizi Dallara/Mercedes + 51.091
Not classified:
Driver Car Laps
N.Hulkenberg Dallara/Mercedes 7
Cyndie Allemann Dallara/Mercedes 7
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