Zolder 2: Monteiro again

Monteiro started this race in third, on old tyres, and admitted that he didn't much hope to win it. And things didn't look much more hopeful when he failed to make up any ground off the startline. But after the pitstops he found himself leading the race from Heikki Kovalainen and early pace-setter Tristan Gommendy.

That´s when the scares began for Monteiro, as backmarkers almost cost him the race. Kovalainen was already approaching Monteiro at quite a rate when the Carlin man came across a couple of slow runners. In an instant his little cushion was gone and Kovalainen lunged at a chance to take the lead at one of the numerous chicanes.

Fortunately for Monteiro the Finn outbraked himself. "If I had braked just a little earlier, I would have made it," said Kovalainen. "But the track was dirty on the inside and I ended up running over the gravel."

So Heikki had to settle for second, ahead of Gommendy, whose ploy of pitting last did not pay off as he dropped from first to third.

Monteiro now leads the championship after the second weekend of racing. The series continues at Magny-Cours in France in late May.


Tiago Monteiro (Carlin Motorsport) 37m15.747s
Heikki Kovalainen (Pons Racing) +4.080s
Tristan Gommendy (Saulnier Racing
Narain Karthikeyan (RC Motorsport)
Jean-Cristophe Ravier (Epsilon Euskadi)
Juan Cruz Alvarez (Gabord Reyco)