Magny-Cours 1: Montagny dominates

With the race taking place in wet conditions at the circuit, pole-sitter Bruce Jouanny led the field away at the start. However, Montagny tailed his fellow Frenchman until the Adelaide hairpin, where he used his clearly superior traction to claim a lead he would never lose, building a lead of over 2s by the end of the first lap.

Aside from Montagny's disappearing act, the race was packed with incident, beginning from the start when both Bas Leinders and Marc Gene crashed out on the first lap.

Second place appeared to be something of a poisoned chalice, with numerous incidents befalling all who claimed the spot. First, Jouanny spun out from the position on lap two, dropping down the order. This gave the spot to Stephane Sarrazin, before he too spun. Undeterred, the Frenchman battled his way back up to second, before he inevitably spun again.

For little reason other than he was able to keep his car on the road, Bruno Besson eventually finished runner-up to Montagny, with Polo Villaamil third, ahead of Jean Christophe Ravier.

The drama continued to the final lap. Jouanny had recovered from his earlier spin to fifth position, but was being tailed closely by Heikki Kovalainen. Heading into the final corner, the Finn locked his brakes and slid straight down the inside of Jouanny. The Frenchman tried to give his opponent room but to no avail. Kovalainen recovered first from the ensuing crash to squeeze across the line in fifth, with Jouanny salvaging sixth after using reverse gear to cross the line backwards.

Franck Montagny Gabord Competicion
Bruno Besson Saulnier Racing +41.3s
Polo Villaamil RC Motorsport +43.9s
Jean Christophe Ravier Epsilon Euskadi +53.4s
Haikki Kovalainen Gabord Competicion +59.2s
Bruce Jouanny Carlin Motorsport +1m.03s