Parente takes Nurburgring win

The race was largely determined at the start, when pole-sitter Michael Aleshin made a sluggish getaway and Parente's Victory machine jumped into the lead.

Borja Garcia had also made his way ahead of Aleshin into second, from third on the grid, before the first corner.

The top-three then held their positions to the chequered flag, despite a safety car period allowing Garcia a chance to close in on Parente.

There was a melee behind the leaders into Turn 1, however. It began when Alx Danielsson braked too late, running across Aleshin's brows and forcing Ben Hanley and Christian Montanari wide.

Further back, Interwetten.com teammates Eric Salignon and Andy Soucek had varying degrees of grief. Salignon lost his rear wing after contact with Steven Kane, whereas Soucek spun to last on the outside.

The unfortunate Kane was out on the spot with damaged suspension, whereas Soucek fought back up to twelfth from last. After losing several laps in the pits undergoing repairs, Salignon rejoined and set fastest lap.

Parente was able to open a lead on Garcia and Aleshin at will. "It was good to have a race like this, when you are in control," said Parente. "It might sound strange, but I didn't even have to use full revs - the car was so good."

Parente's only worry came with the appearance of the safety car that negated his advantage over Garcia on lap 4.

Testing his brakes vigorously before the re-start, those following were suddenly caught unawares. Danielsson, running fifth, put all four wheels on the grass and Pastor Maldonado was also forced to make an evasive manoeuvre.

When racing resumed, Garcia was unable to respond to Parente's pace. "Unfortunately, I had big understeer after the safety-car," said Garcia. "I think we may have lost out because of the tyre pressures changing."

Milos Pavlovic took his, and EuroInternational's, best result of the year with fourth. The result proved that his impressive performance in Spa was no flash in the pan.

"We are just one step from the podium," said Pavlovic. "I was quicker than Aleshin but only on certain parts of the track, and I just couldn't get close enough to make a move."

The Nurburgring has been a happy hunting ground for Parente, who won there last year in British F3, on his way to the championship.

Today's win now reasserts the Portuguese driver at the top of the World Series standings with a narrow two-point margin over Pastor Maldonado.

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Driver                Team                     Time
 1.  Alvaro Parente        Victory Engineering      31:54.504
 2.  Borja Garcia          RC Motorsport            +   5.970
 3.  Michael Aleshin       Carlin Motorsport        +   7.314
 4.  Milos Pavlovic        Eurointernational        +   8.356
 5.  Alx Danielsson        Comtec                   +   8.914
 6.  Pastor Maldonado      Draco Multiracing USA    +  10.081
 7.  Sean Mcintosh         KTR                      +  11.624
 8.  Davide Valsecchi      Epsilon Euskadi          +  12.907
 9.  Marco Bonanomi        Tech 1 Racing            +  13.717
10.  Ben Hanley            Cram Competition         +  14.119
11.  Christian Montanari   Prema Powerteam          +  15.807
12.  Andy Soucek           Interwetten.Com          +  22.685
13.  Celso Miguez          Pons Racing              +  23.906
14.  Bruce Jouanny         RC Motorsport            +  27.855
15.  Robbie Kerr           KTR                      +  28.088
16.  Ryo Fukuda            Tech 1 Racing            +  28.790
17.  Adrian Zaugg          Carlin Motorsport        +  29.723
18.  Gregory Franchi       Prema Powerteam          +  36.771
19.  Alessandro Bonetti    Jenzer Motorsport        +  40.581
20.  Pascuale Di Sabatino  Cram Competition         +1:11.948

NOT CLASSIFIED:

     Driver                Team                    Laps
     Eric Salignon         Interwetten.Com          11
     Marcos Martinez       Eurointernational         9
     Hayanari Shimoda      Victory Engineering       7
     Tomas Kostka          Draco Multiracing USA     4
     James Rossiter        Pons Racing               2
     Alvaro Barba          Jenzer Motorsport         2
     Steven Kane           Epsilon Euskadi           -
     Carlos Iaconelli      Comtec                    -

Fastest lap: Salignon, 1:46.869 on lap 5