Race 2: Piccione triumphant

Piccione rocketed away from the start to pass Nelson Piquet Jr and his team-mate Alvaro Parente on the drag down to the first corner and from there sprinted off into the distance as Piquet and Parente battled it out for second place.

Piquet pushed Parente hard on the first lap but went wide and dropped places. But the Brazilian gritted his teeth and fought his way back up the field to claim third spot at the finish.

With Piquet off his back, Parente reined in Piccione, who had stretched out a lead of 6 seconds over his team-mate. Parente got this down to 2.8 seconds at the end after a series of fastest laps, but he posed no real threat to Piccione.

Marko Asmer brought his car home in fourth spot but it was scant consolation for the Hitech Racing driver who powered his way up to second at one point before making a mistake and letting through Parente and Piquet at the Melbourne Hairpin. Team-mate James Walker finished one spot down in fifth, a solid drive after his recent race form.

It was the battle for sixth that drew the most excitement though with a three-battle between James Rossiter, Adam Carroll and Danny Watts. The trio put on a great show for the spectators with overtaking aplenty for much of the 18-lap race.

Rossiter took the honours ahead of Carroll and Watts while Carlin Motorsport's Danilo Dirani and Alan Docking Racing's Will Power rounded out the top 10.

The championship is now tied between Carroll and Piquet on 142 points with Rossiter 14 adrift on 128. Piccione has moved up to fourth spot on 111 ahead of Danilo Dirani (89) and Will Power (87).




Clivio Piccione (Dallara-Mugen) 26m22.638s
Alvaro Parente (Dallara-Mugen) +2.879s
Nelson Piquet Jr (Dallara-Mugen) +9.411s
Marko Asmer (Dallara-Renault) +13.003s
James Walker (Dallara-Renault) +15.743s
James Rossiter (Dallara-Opel) +17.008s