Spa race: Sperafico scores first win

Wilson (Nordic) was assured of the title when his only rival, Australia's Mark Webber, crashed heavily at Eau Rouge on the opening lap. Webber clipped a damp kerb, which sent his Super Nova car flying into the tyrewall at high speed.

The Aussie limped away from his car but is not thought to be seriously injured.

Sperafico's Petrobras car dominated the race, pulling well clear of Wilson throughout.

"I'm very happy, I didn't expect any of this," said Sperafico. "I really wanted to win a race this year and knew I couldn't afford to make any mistakes."

Wilson commented: "We opted for a safe option. We knew it might rain so we went for a soft set-up which worked yesterday but today it gave me understeer. I pushed hard to win the race but I was limited with what I could do."

Sperafico's team mate Antonio Pizzonia, who started second, spun under the Safety Car which came out after Webber's crash. He attempted to regain his places under yellow flags, but was told by his team to drop back down the order. He recovered to ninth place at the flag.

Darren Manning was briefly up to third after a stunning passing manoeuvre on Ricardo Mauricio on the Kemmel straight, but swiped his front wing off on the bollards at the Bus Stop chicane and was forced to pit.

Mauricio (Red Bull) went on to finish third, just ahead of Tomas Enge (Nordic), who stormed through from ninth on the grid.

A great battle for fourth ended in chaos at the final corner, as the fickle Ardennes weather produced a heavy shower at the Bus Stop. Marc Goossens went across the grass, and Patrick Friesacher punted Bas Leinders into a spin.


For full race results, click here.

For full championship standings, click here.