Snetterton 1: Kovalainen profits

Courtney and Kerr filled the front row courtesy of their qualifying performances at the cancelled round at Croft, but pole sitter Courtney got too much wheelspin and the pair were side by side as they went into Riches.

Kerr was on the outside, and marginally ahead, but as he turned in he found the Australian there on the racing line. As the cars tangled both drivers spun. Courtney recovered at the tail of the field, but Kerr's car was damaged after he nerfed the barrier.

With a valuable point on offer for fastest lap he limped back to the pits for a replacement rear wing, but the rear diffuser was also damaged and any hope of adding to his score disappeared.

The first corner incident promoted Richard Antinucci into the lead, but his stint at the front ended as he started lap three, when Heikki Kovalainen took full advantage of a great tow to move into the lead with a precise pass into T1.

Thereafter the Finn pulled clear, although with six laps to go a wayward moment on some sand thrown onto the track by a spinning backmarker gave Antinucci hope. However, Kovalainen soon recovered his composure to hang onto to the win.

Antinucci spent a lot of the race defending second from the advances of Bruce Jouanny, but the Frenchman fell back after a wild moment at the Esses late on.

Possibly the drive of the day came from Ronnie Bremer, who fought his way up from 13th on the grid to an eventual fifth. During the race he sparred with team-mate Mark Taylor. The pair got too close on one lap at the Esses and Taylor spun into retirement, but there was no sense of acrimony in the Manor camp after the race.

Adam Carroll took sixth and the Scholarship win after a lonely race. Clivio Piccione was second in class albeit a fair way behind the Brit.

Courtney took full advantage of some very generous room given to him by the midfield runners to move up to an eventual ninth (seventh in class). This added four points to his championship lead, stretching the gap over Kerr to six points. Given the Australian's lowly starting positions for tomorrow's two races, he'll have his work cut out to leave Snetterton at the top of the standings


Heikki Kovalainen Dallara-Renault 21m13.117s
Richard Antinucci Dallara-Mugen +0.886s
Bruce Jouanny Dallara-Mugen +2.873s
Fabio Carbone Dallara-Mugen +4.703s
Ronnie Bremer Dallara-Mugen +9.426s
Adam Carroll Dallara Mugen* +12.993s
Mathew Gilmore Dallara-Mugen +13.741s
Clivio Piccione Dallara-Mugen* +13.963s
James Courtney Dallara-Mugen +14.212s
Stephen Colbert Dallara-Mugen* +15.202s