Pantano takes thrilling first win
Giorgio Pantano scored his and FMS International's first GP2 win following an epic encounter at Magny-Cours
Pantano held on despite the best efforts of Nelson Piquet Jr to claim a richly deserved win.
On the first lap Lucas di Grassi passed polesitter Ferdinando Monfardini for the lead around the outside at the hairpin. A lap later Pantano demoted to the DAMS driver to third at the same place and on lap three he made his move for the lead in carbon copy fashion.
As di Grassi battled to keep Piquet at bay, Pantano eked out a small lead and this proved crucial. Piquet finally worked his way into second and closed right in on the leader, but the 28-lap race was over before he got close enough to make a move.
Pantano's drive was great, but the star of the race was Alex Premat. After another mega start from seventh, he clashed wheels with Xandi Negrao on the opening lap and took to the gravel. He dropped back to 15th, but a stunning series of passing moves brought him into the points. In the final third of the race he dispatched Clivio Piccione, di Grassi and Timo Glock in style to score an amazing podium finish.
Feature race winner Glock took fourth, while championship leader Lewis Hamilton had almost as strong a run as Premat, rising from 19th to score two points in fifth. After his best weekend so far, di Grassi held on for the final point in sixth, beating Neel Jani to the line by under a second.
Results:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Pantano FMS International 40:55.810
2. Piquet Jr. Piquet Sports + 0.500
3. Premat ART Grand Prix + 9.667
4. Glock iSport International + 10.900
5. Hamilton ART Grand Prix + 12.199
6. Di Grassi Durango + 17.415
7. Jani Arden International + 17.884
8. Ammermuller Arden International + 29.154
9. Pla DPR Direxiv + 40.728
10. Porteiro Campos Racing + 42.514
11. Hernandez Durango + 43.968
12. Perera DAMS + 44.900
13. Valles Campos Racing + 45.341
14. Carroll Racing Engineering + 45.855
15. Fauzy Super Nova + 46.555
16. Villa Racing Engineering + 48.782
17. Tahinci FMS International + 1:10.938
18. Zuber Trident Racing + 1 lap
NOT CLASSIFIED:
Driver Team Laps
Bruni Trident Racing 23
Filippi BCN Competicion 18
Piccione DPR Direxiv 16
Lopez Super Nova 3
Negrao Piquet Sports 2
Monfardini DAMS 0
Yoshimoto BCN Competicion 0
Viso iSport International 0
Fastest lap: Lopez 1:26.513 on lap 3
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