Race: Enge takes win; championship lead

After taking pole on a track where overtaking is as rare as hens' teeth, Enge knew that all he had to do was make a good start and the win was almost assured. He did exactly that and a blinding first lap on cold tyres opened up a two second lead and enough breathing space to relax a little.

"I was able to look after my tyres because I was under no real pressure, so that was good," said Enge. "This is a massive result for the championship. But there are still two races left to go so it will be tough."

From the clean side of the grid Giorgio Pantano was hoping to follow Enge into Turn 1, but his Coloni team-mate Enrico Toccacelo made a great getaway from the dirty side and held his second position. The two Italians ran close for the first few laps, but Pantano could find no way past.

Toccacelo kept Enge in sight for the first 10 laps, but in the final half of the race the Czech gradually eased away. The first three were way ahead of the rest, where most of the action was taking place.

Ricardo Maurico beat Ricardo Sperafico off the line at the start and the two Brazilians battled hard throughout the opening lap. However, a spin by Sperafico dropped him out of contention on lap two, but Maurico's comfortable fourth place only lasted two more laps before he was sidelined by a mechanical problem.

This allowed former championship leader Sebastien Bourdais to move up a place and he held a sizable gap over Bjorn Wirdheim in fifth.

The race was enlivened in the closing stages after the safety car was deployed and bunched up the field.

From the start of the race Mario Haberfeld and Antonio Pizzonia had been circulating in close proximity. Eventually Pizzonia tired of the sight of the rear of his fellow Brazilian's car and attempted an ambitious move down the inside on the entry of Turn 9.

The cars locked wheels, which sent Haberfield somersaulting through the air. The car flipped twice, but fortunately landed on its wheels and the Astromega driver was able to walk away from the wreck. However, there would be further carnage as backmarker Derek Hill could not avoid Pizzonia's stricken car. The debris from the incident forced the race officials to send of the Safety Car, while the marshals cleared up the track.

The race was restarted with one lap remaining, but Enge staved off any potential threat and he duly took the chequered flag.