Monza Formula V8 3.5: Roy Nissany dominates race one

Underlining his superiority after claiming pole position, Charouz-run Lotus racer Nissany also achieved the fastest lap.

The Israeli was only momentarily troubled when an excess of wheelspin helped surprise front row starter Pietro Fittipaldi take the lead on the run down to the Rettifilo chicane.

However, Fiittipaldi suffered a heavy brake lock-up on arrival at the corner, took to the escape road and hit a polystyrene board while rejoining the road.

"At the first corner I saw Pietro going wide, and I was not sure with my own speed if I was going to make the corner," said Nissany.

"It is perhaps tricky when we go from the medium downforce used in qualifying to low-downforce settings for the race in knowing how much to push at the first corner, but in the end we managed the calculation well."

SMP Racing's Matthieu Vaxiviere qualified down in seventh after a qualifying crash at the second Lesmo, but thanks to a catapult of a getaway and confusion at Turn 1, he ran second at the completion of the first lap.

Vaxiviere's car was not in top condition after his earlier accident however, allowing leader Nissany to romp clear in the initial phase of the race.

A close three-car battle for second lost intensity after Fortec's Deletraz grabbed second place into the first chicane on lap five.

"I think Matthieu made a small mistake at the Parabolica, and that allowed me to gain a good slipstream across the pit straight," explained Deletraz.

Vaxiviere added: "I had a very high water temperature throughout the race, so I was making some precautionary short shifts, and also my steering wheel wasn't quite straight.

"However, I have to say thank you to the team for readying the car in time, I think they finished about five minutes before I had to leave for the grid."

Once demoted to third, Vaxiviere came under attack from Aurelien Panis, but the Arden driver would abandon his pursuit when Rene Binder in the second Lotus entry closed onto his gearbox as he recovered from a slow start from third on the grid.

Their scrap for fourth would provide the highlight of the second half of the race. Binder fleetingly stole the position six laps from home, only to be immediately passed by Panis at the first corner.

Teo Martin Motorsport's Yu Kanamaru claimed sixth, while team-mate Beistke Visser was following closely when she crashed on the exit of the Ascari chicane two laps from the finish.

Others to suffer dramas included Egor Orudzhev, who contrived to salvage seventh place despite a trip through the Lesmo 2 gravel trap on the opening lap and a couple of excursions down the Turn 1 escape road.

Championship leader Tom Dillmann ended the afternoon last of those on the lead lap in 12th after a pit stop to change the right rear wheel.

It is the first race of the season where AVF driver Dillmann has failed to score, but he continues to head the drivers' standings on 189 points ahead of Deletraz on 167.

RACE RESULTS