Lausitz 1: Kovalainen wins

The Pons Racing steamroller kept up its fine form today (Sunday) as Heikki Kovalainen converted pole into a dominant win in the first of two races at the Lausitzring. The Finnish driver was completely untroubled by two safety-car periods, although he had to fight to keep his position off the line

Aug 8, 2004, 11:09 AM

Enrique Bernoldi (GD Racing) made a menacing getaway from third, but Kovalainen made sure he couldn't squeeze through. The block meant Tristan Gommendy (Saulnier Racing) nipped up Bernoldi's inside, but the Frenchman ran wide, leaving Bernoldi to lead the chase.

The only times Bernoldi got close were when the safety car came out - once for Narain Karthikeyan's spin and once when Didier Andre tangled with Pablo Donoso just after the first restart. But the order at the front did not change at any stage. The top three mostly had breathing space between them, but Tiago Monteiro (Carlin Motorsport) had strong pressure from Jean-Cristophe Ravier in the Epsilon Euskadi car, after the Portuguese driver had a poor getaway.

Monteiro held on to his place, with Spaniard Felix Porteiro completing a steady drive to sixth place, ahead of Kovalainen's team-mate Adrian Valles. Porteiro starts the second race in third - behind Kovalainen and Monteiro who hold the front row as they did this morning.