Formula V8 3.5

Monza: Race two report

Caramba, it's Duran! Salvador Duran (Interwetten.com) won the second race of the weekend in Monza. Starting from the front row thanks to the reverse grid, the Mexican came home ahead of Milos Pavlovic (Draco Racing) and Sebastian Vettel (Carlin ...

Published: Apr 15, 2007, 6:55 PM

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Caramba, it's Duran!

Salvador Duran (Interwetten.com) won the second race of the weekend in Monza. Starting from the front row thanks to the reverse grid, the Mexican came home ahead of Milos Pavlovic (Draco Racing) and Sebastian Vettel (Carlin Motorsport), who managed to shake off the attentions of his teammate, Aleshin. Fourth place man Alvaro Parente (Tech 1 Racing) ends the weekend as championship leader.

History was made in the World Series as a woman took pole position for the first time: 10th in race 1, Pippa Mann started from the front row, alongside Salvador Duran. Duran got away to a better start and led into the first chicane in front of Mann. Sebastian Vettel was fourth behind Miguel Molina. These four were followed by Miguez, Pavlovic, Bonanomi and Parente.

Duran rapidly built up a small lead over Mann. Vettel and Pavlovic, who had got past Molina and Miguez, closed the gap with two laps gone. Aleshin, who had moved ahead of Albuquerque and Parente, was already up to sixth. On the next lap, Vettel and Pavlovic overtook the British driver. A few moments later, Richard Philippe crashed into the safety barriers and out of the race, meaning the safety car had to be called out.

After four laps, the top 10 read: Duran, Vettel, Pavlovic, Mann, Miguez, Aleshin, Parente, Albuquerque, Bonanomi and Iaconelli. The race resumed at the end of lap five. The trio of Duran, Vettel and Pavlovic pulled immediately clear. Pippa Mann was unable to hold off Aleshin and Miguez for long.

At the start of lap 8, Pavlovic got past Vettel thanks to some very late braking. Duran took full advantage of the fight behind him to extend his lead by a few lengths. Aleshin closed right up on his teammate Vettel and began to launch his first attacks.

Midway through the race, Iaconelli, Barba and Sabatino clashed, but the Stewards managed to clear the cars from the track quickly. Duran was at that point 1.5" ahead of Pavlovic, who had moved clear of Vettel and Aleshin. Miguez held onto fifth, in front of Bonanomi, Parente, Albuquerque, Jousse and Mann. Bonanomi was however hit with two drive through penalties for first of all cutting across a chicane and then cutting across the line when exiting the pit lane. This allowed Van der Garde and Hanley -- who had made a remarkable surge through the field from 26th place -- to move up into the points after having got past Mann.

Parente passed Miguez on lap 18 to take fifth place. A bit further back, Van der Garde got past Hanley on the Curva Grande. The Dutch driver set the fastest race lap and moved up another place following a minor error by Jousse. Hanley dropped back another place when he was passed by Kimball

Aleshin tried to get past Vettel on the final lap. The two cars collided and were thrown into a spin at the chicane! Vettel managed to get away again and hold onto his third spot, but Aleshin's race was over!

Salvador Duran: "I had a difficult time in qualifying, but I felt more confident after the first race. The chance to start from the front row was obviously a big help. The car was perfect and I had to push from start to finish in order to stay in front.

Milos Pavlovic: "I am really pleased to come second. I didnâ^a--t expect to achieve such a good result after testing. The car wasn't perfect yesterday afternoon but the team worked hard to find the right solutions."

Sebastian Vettel: "I was short of a bit of speed this weekend, but we have managed to pick up some good points for the championship. I held on desperately to third place -- the race was long with Mikhail just behind. The â^a--push-to-pass' system helped me to hold him off. His overtaking attempt on the last lap was a little optimistic!"

-credit: wsrenault

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