Danielsson makes it three in a row

The Swede's strongest opposition was provided by Milos Pavlovic, who finished less than a second behind, his best result of the season.

The expected challenge from front row man Tristan Gommendy was a non-event after the Frenchman suffered a poor start. It was left to Christian Montanari to claim the final spot on the podium ahead of Robbie Kerr.

"I was so focused on the lights at the start that I couldn't see what happened to Gommendy," said Danielsson.

"The HANS device also restricts your vision, but I could see in my mirrors Milos closing in and getting into my slipstream.

"I just tried to brake as late as I could into the first corner. I'd rather run wide on the exit than tempt someone into a dive up the inside.

"The team is delivering a perfect car at every track now."

The race began under a light drizzle which ceased after three laps, but there was no question of anyone running on anything other than slick tyres.

At the first corner, the Dunlop chicane, four cars went through the gravel including fourth place qualifier Patrick Pilet and his Tech 1 team-mate Ryo Fukuda. All were able to rejoin although Pilet dropped back to sixth. Gommendy stayed clear of the gravel but lost considerable time by going broadside in an attempt to make the turn.

On the following tour Pilet recovered a place with an aggressive move on the fast-starting Celso Miguez at the Virage du Musee left hander. Miguez had lost momentum after being overtaken by Robbie Kerr at the preceding La Chapelle corner.

Steven Kane was pressuring Ryo Fukuda for seventh on lap two when he spun to a halt, but the Northern Irishman's 'never say die' attitude subsequently yielded a point for fastest lap.

At the front, Danielsson opened a 1.8 second lead over Pavlovic by the halfway stage on lap ten, with Montanari a further five seconds behind.

The margin of comfort was reduced considerably when Danielsson backed off rather more than was required approaching Pastor Maldonado's stricken Draco car at Dunlop on lap 15.

"You sit so low in these cars that I couldn't see what was causing the yellow flags," said Danielsson.

Maldonado had been working his way up the order after almost stalling at the start, when an overtaking attempt on Davide Valsecchi for 19th ended in contact and retirement.

Danielsson's result moves the affable Swede into second place in the championship, as his title rivals endured a miserable day.

Only points leader Andy Soucek managed to improve on his tally in seventh. Alvaro Parente had a curious spin on the last corner of the last lap while in a points paying ninth. He eventually followed Borja Garcia home in 12th.

Race one results:

Pos  Driver                Team                    Time
 1.  Alx Danielsson        Comtec             29:24.865
 2.  Milos Pavlovic        Draco                + 0.914
 3.  Christian Montanari   Prema                + 9.372
 4.  Robbie Kerr           KTR                 + 11.502
 5.  Patrick Pilet         Tech 1              + 12.135
 6.  Celso Miguez          Comtec              + 18.839
 7.  Andy Soucek           Interwetten         + 21.208
 8.  Tristan Gommendy      Pons                + 22.036
 9.  Sean McIntosh         KTR                 + 24.158
10.  Ben Hanley            Cram                + 26.509
11.  Borja Garcia          RC                  + 27.809
12.  Alvaro Parente        Victory             + 32.661
13.  Miguel Molina         GD                  + 34.821
14.  Hayanari Shimoda      Victory             + 35.641
15.  Alvaro Barba          Jenzer              + 37.090
16.  James Rossiter        Pons                + 37.405
17.  Davide Valsecchi      Epsilon Euskadi     + 42.707
18.  Eric Salignon         Interwetten         + 45.449
19.  Michael Aleshin       Carlin              + 52.087
20.  Bruce Jouanny         RC                  + 53.595
21.  Steven Kane           Epsilon Euskadi     + 54.014
22.  Marco Barba           Jenzer              + 54.859
23.  Gregory Franchi       Prema               + 58.310
24.  Gavin Cronje          Carlin              + 58.972
25.  Pascuale di Sabatino  Cram                + 59.856
26.  Carlos Iaconelli      Interwetten         + 2 laps

Not classified:

     Driver                Team               Laps
     Ryo Fukuda            Tech 1               17
     Pastor Maldonado      Draco                16
     Mehdi Bennani         Eurointernational    6
     Marcos Martinez       Eurointernational