Race 1: Davies wins again

The series leader set only the ninth fastest lap of the race, yet repelled everything that Derek Hayes could throw at him to claim his second successive victory.

Things would have been very different had Japanese star Takuma Sato not retired with yet another gearbox failure three laps after taking the lead of the race with a stunning round-the-outside manoeuvre at the virtually flat-out Riches bend.

From fourth on the grid, Sato's Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen made a rocket start to burst into second behind Davies's Team Avanti Dallara-Opel. On the third lap the safety car was sent out while Scholarship Class runner Ernani Judice was removed from the circuit. Then, at the re-start, came Sato's spectacular move.

The BAR Formula 1 test driver looked set to break his seasonal duck until the heartbraking failure, which came six laps from the flag.

That promoted Davies back into the lead, with rookie Hayes (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) breathing down his neck. Time after time Hayes moved into a position to challenge Davies, and he got very close with his final bid down the back straight on the final lap, but the Northern Irishman eventually had to give best by a mere 0.267 seconds.

"I had awesome pace but I just kept losing downforce behind Matt," said Hayes. "I had two chances to pass but he's smart enough to know where to block. It would have taken a crash-or-win manoeuvre and at the moment I'm just after the points. I didn't want to end upside down in a field!"

Davies added: "I thought if Derek got close enough he might have a go. I wasn't really worried, but I was hoping the race would end soon. I don't think I could have lasted another lap or so. It rained hard last night and I'm having a few problems with grip - whereas my set-up suited the circuit yesterday, maybe it doesn't today."

Gianmaria Bruni was right up with Hayes until a brief off at the Bomb Hole forced him to settle for third after a charging opening lap to recover from a bad start. Another man on the move was Ryan Dalziel, who passed RC Prost team mate Nicolas Kiesa to take fourth and set the fastest lap of the race.

Behind James Courtney, who shadowed the RC twins for a while, came the battle of the race between Anthony Davidson and Andre Lotterer. The German well and truly outfumbled himself in the first lap traffic, but got the better of Davidson in the later exchanges.

Scholarship Class honours went to Dutchman Robert Doornbos after Robbie Kerr and Michael Keohane collided on the first lap. But it was a close-run thing for Doornbos, who ran wide at the Esses on the final lap and only just pipped points leader Matt Gilmore.


Matt Davies (Team Avanti Dallara-Opel) 16 laps in 20m01.785s
Derek Hayes (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +0.267s
Gianmaria Bruni (Fortec Renault Dallara-Renault) +1.712s
Ryan Dalziel (RC Motorsport Dallara-Opel) +3.045s
Nicolas Kiesa (RC Motorsport Dallara-Opel) +3.710s
James Courtney (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) +5.088s
Andre Lotterer (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) +8.220s
Anthony Davidson (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +9.526s
Milos Pavlovic (Team Avanti Dallara-Opel) +11.645s
Mark Taylor (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +12.196s
Robert Doornbos (Fred Goddard Racing Dallara-Renault)
Dalziel 1m02.720s