Race: Sato strides towards title

The crash happened at the end of the 16th lap of 18 when Bruce Jouanny, lying in sixth place, hit the rear of fifth-placed Derek Hayes on the run up to the chicane. The Frenchman was launched through the safety catchfencing and landed in the area behind the spectator banking. Jouanny miraculously escaped without serious injury, although a female spectator has been transferred to Winchester hospital.

This was a terrific drive by Sato in the race which was rearranged after being rained off two weeks ago at Knockhill. From third on the grid he swept ahead of Andy Priaulx on the second lap when Priaulx lost momentum trying to look for a way by Anthony Davidson.

Then, at the end of the fifth lap, Sato made a mistake under braking for the chicane, almost losing second again to Priaulx after a big sideways slide. Nearly two seconds down on Davidson, the Japanese put the hammer down. On lap 13 he got into Carlin Motorsport team mate Davidson's tow on the run to the chicane and motored through on the inside.

The move caught Davidson, who was under the impression that some kind of 'hold station' order was in force by the team, by surprise. The Englishman was furious after the race, but team boss Trevor Carlin, while admitting that Sato had raced a bit harder than he expected, said that the instructions were merely an edict to be sensible.

Sato couldn't shake Davidson from then on, and with two laps to go his win was confirmed when the red flags flew.

"It's perfect for the championship, of course, because I got 21 points," said Sato, who also claimed a new lap record. "But what makes me absolutely happy is winning from third. It was classical motor racing with overtaking."

Davidson added: "I could have defended, but I really didn't think he was going to overtake. If it was anyone else I'd have defended my arse off."

Priaulx drove a solid race to take third in his Alan Docking Racing Dallara-Mugen. Although he came under pressure from James Courtney in the middle stages, the Australian flagged a little and left the Guernseyman - whose car was much improved since qualifying - to the final podium spot.

Courtney was even coming under pressure towards the end from Hayes, who in turn - of course - had a fired-up Jouanny to contend with. The result was a good one for Hayes, who started only eighth and stood to lose ground in the fight for second in the championship to Courtney and Davidson.

Jouanny had ousted Mark Taylor from the final top six place, while Andre Lotterer, Alex Gurney and Matt Davies (who lost places when his tyres blistered) completed the points scorers. Gianmaria Bruni was well inside the top 10 before a wiring loom problem struck, while Jeffrey Jones lost his fifth place on the grid when he mistakenly selected third gear for the start.

Robert Doornbos took a clear-cut Scholarship Class win. The Dutchman got ahead of poleman Ernani Judice when the Brazilian was forced to brake to avoid the stalled car of Atsushi Katsumata at the start before streaking into the distance. Robbie Kerr also nipped through to second, before running wide at the complex onto the grass and dropping back. Judice was back up into second, but was pushed off the road at the chicane in his battle with Matt Gilmore, who eventually came through to take second from Mark Mayall, Michael Keohane and Kerr.

Takuma Sato (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) 15 laps in 16m57.075s
Anthony Davidson (Carlin Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +0.523s
Andy Priaulx (Alan Docking Racing Dallara-Mugen) +3.923s
James Courtney (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) +5.453s
Derek Hayes (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +6.252s
Bruce Jouanny (Promatecme Dallara-Mugen) +6.571s
Mark Taylor (Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mugen) +10.432s
Andre Lotterer (Jaguar Racing Dallara-Mugen) +12.301s
Alex Gurney (Fortec Dallara-Renault) +12.737s
Matt Davies (Team Avanti Dallara-Opel) +14.291s
Fastest lap Sato 1m07.028s

Scholarship Class Robert Doornbos (Fred Goddard Racing Dallara-Renault); Matt Gilmore; Mark Mayall; Michael Keohane; Robbie Kerr; Kazuki Hoshino.