'Big relief' for Heidfeld

Sarrazin recovered from a slow start to pass Heidfeld and early leader Fabrice Walfisch (Draco).

Heidfeld followed Walfisch for the first 19 laps, but lost ground when he attempted to pass after the Frenchman made a mistake.

Sarrazin quickly pounced - and one lap later he took the lead when Walfisch's throttle pedal snapped in two and forced him out of the race.

Heidfeld then trailed Sarrazin to the flag to make absolutely sure of the championship title.

'It was a big relief to cross the finishing line,' Heidfeld said.

'I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks today and I just made sure I got to the finish. I closed up on Stéphane at the end, but I wasn't going to get through unless he made any mistakes.'

Sarrazin was happy to pick up the second win of his F3000 career, which lifts him to second in the championship table.

'You have to be patient at this track,' he said. 'You can't overtake unless other drivers make mistakes, and fortunately today there were a couple of opportunities In could use to my advantage.'

Sarrazin's team-mate André Couto briefly held third place, but he was forced out with broken rear suspension moments after passing the slowing Walfisch.

That handed third to Marc Goossens, who gave the Lukoil Arden team its first finish of the season.

'It's a big relief for the team to score some points at last,' Goossens said, 'because we have been through a tough period. I have never lost my confidence or motivation, however, and I hope we can build on this in the last two races.'

His day later turned sour, however, when one of his shock absorbers was found not to conform to the regulations and Goossens was thus excluded from the results.

It was a good day for French drivers - despite Walfisch's retirement.

Franck Montagny (DAMS) inherited Goossens' third place while Soheil Ayari (Cica Team Oreca) and Nicolas Minassian (Kid Jensen Racing) led home Jason Watt (Super Nova) to add to their points tallies.

Heidfeld's only two title rivals failed to feature.

Gonzalo Rodriguez (Astromega) spun out on the fifth lap and Bruno Junqueira (Petrobras Jnr) was 16th after a clash with Polo Villaamil (Coloni).

Junqueira's team-mate Max Wilson has been banned from taking part in the next race, at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on August 14, for causing what race stewards described as 'an avoidable accident'.

The Brazilian was blamed for a crash that eliminated Wilson and Bruno Junqueira.