Rockingham 2: Green wins thriller

The race began as it would go on - in spectacular fashion. Green avoided any repeat of his race one startline problems and held the advantage from the in-form Will Power (Fortec), Manor's Clivio Piccione and the rather slower-starting front row man Piquet. Behind them, Adam Carroll stalled on the line and was hit by Danny Watts. Although Carroll was able to return to the pits (minus his Dallara's rear wing), Watts' damaged car was stranded on the grid and the safety car had to be deployed for three laps.

Piquet was on the move after the restart, passing Piccione into the chicane. Championship leader Alan van der Merwe replicated this move soon after, but before either could make any headway on Power and Green the safety car re-emerged after Katherine Legge had a wild aerial (almost vertical) spin on the launch pad of the chicane kerbing. With the allotted three 'full course yellow' laps used up already, this second safety car period was deducted from the race distance, which would have major repercussions for Piquet.

With four laps to go, Piquet moved past Power and rapidly hunted down Green, falling short by only 0.5s at the chequered flag. Given that the Brazilian had been closing at a rate of 0.6s per lap, those extra three laps could have been crucial.

Power's fantastic run ended in disappointment when he spun at Deene under pressure from Van der Merwe, who duly moved into third.

While it was a good day for Carlin's Green and Van der Merwe, their team-mates Richard Antinucci and Ronnie Bremer contrived to collide with each other, Bremer having earlier survived a wild moment at the chicane.

Fairuz Fauzy scored his best F3 result yet in fifth place ahead of Robert Dahlgren and Scholarship winner Ernesto Viso, who charged from 19th on the grid to beat class rival Karun Chandhok. Billy Asaro and Antinucci split the pair at the flag.





1 Jamie Green Carlin Dallara-Mugen Honda
2 Nelson Piquet Jr Piquet Sports Dallara-Mugen Honda
3 Alan van der Merwe Carlin Dallara-Mugen Honda
4 Clivio Piccione Manor Dallara-Mugen Honda
5 Fairuz Fauzy Promatecme Dallara-Mugen Honda
6 Robert Dahlgren Fortec Dallara-Renault
7 Ernesto Viso P1 Racing Dallara-Opel
8 Billy Asaro P1 Racing Dallara-Opel
9 Richard Antinucci Carlin Dallara-Mugen Honda
10 Karun Chandhok T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda