Giorgio Pantano has claimed yet another win at the Circuit Magny-Cours, outlasting Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean in scorching conditions to cross the finish line well ahead of series returnee Lucas di Grassi and Pastor Maldonado.
The Italian, who historically does well at the French circuit, applied constant pressure to Senna and Grosjean throughout the race, claiming the top spot when both men's cars failed to last the race, leaving the road clear for Pantano's emphatic victory.
At the chequered flag Pantano's Racing Engineering team were hanging over the pitwall to salute his sterling win, while di Grassi kept his head in his first race back to claim second spot 8.6 seconds later, while Maldonado had a relatively quiet race to round out the podium 4 seconds later.
Vitaly Petrov and Andreas Zuber were the next men across the line, separated by just 0.4 after a race long battle was resolved in the Russian's favour.
D'Ambrosio was next, sixth place a good reward for a great drive in difficult circumstances, ahead of Karun Chandhok and Mike Conway, who stayed out longer than anyone on his first set of tyres and was rewarded with a repeat reverse pole for race two, just ahead of Alvaro Parente, who drove his heart out to finish ninth after started last on the grid, while Pantano picked up the final point for fastest lap to stretch his lead in the championship to nine points over Senna, 35 points to 26.
Results race #1 :
1 - Giorgio Pantano - Racing Engineering - 41 laps in 59'17"927
2 - Lucas Di Grassi - Campos - 8"607
3 - Pastor Maldonado - Piquet - 12"436
4 - Vitaly Petrov - Campos - 17"081
5 - Andreas Zuber - Piquet - 17"485
6 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Dams - 18"482
7 - Karun Chandhok - iSport - 20"330
8 - Mike Conway - Trident - 23"024
9 - Alvaro Parente - Super Nova - 28"848
10 - Luca Filippi - ART - 41"255
11 - Diego Nunes - DPR - 54"160
12 - Yelmer Buurman - Arden - 57"581
13 - Andy Soucek - Super Nova - 57"817
14 - Javier Villa - Racing Engineering - 58"529
15 - Adrian Valles - BCN - 1'01"455
16 - Carlos Iaconelli - BCN - 1'20"438
17 - Marko Asmer - FMSI - 1'21"042
18 - Alberto Valerio - Durango - 2 laps
Fastest Lap : Giorgio Pantano 1'25"352
Championship :
1.Pantano 35; 2.Senna 26; 3.Grosjean, Parente 19; 5.Maldonado 18; 6.Petrov, Zuber 17; 8.Buemi 14; 9.Chandhok 13; 10.Conway 11; 11.Kobayashi, Di Grassi 8; 13.Tung 7; 14.Rodriguez 6; 15.Valles 5; 16.D'Ambrosio, Villa 3; 18.Valsecchi 2; 19.Hanley. Soucek, Carroll.
The Italian, who historically does well at the French circuit, applied constant pressure to Senna and Grosjean throughout the race, claiming the top spot when both men's cars failed to last the race, leaving the road clear for Pantano's emphatic victory.
At the chequered flag Pantano's Racing Engineering team were hanging over the pitwall to salute his sterling win, while di Grassi kept his head in his first race back to claim second spot 8.6 seconds later, while Maldonado had a relatively quiet race to round out the podium 4 seconds later.
Vitaly Petrov and Andreas Zuber were the next men across the line, separated by just 0.4 after a race long battle was resolved in the Russian's favour.
D'Ambrosio was next, sixth place a good reward for a great drive in difficult circumstances, ahead of Karun Chandhok and Mike Conway, who stayed out longer than anyone on his first set of tyres and was rewarded with a repeat reverse pole for race two, just ahead of Alvaro Parente, who drove his heart out to finish ninth after started last on the grid, while Pantano picked up the final point for fastest lap to stretch his lead in the championship to nine points over Senna, 35 points to 26.
Results race #1 :
1 - Giorgio Pantano - Racing Engineering - 41 laps in 59'17"927
2 - Lucas Di Grassi - Campos - 8"607
3 - Pastor Maldonado - Piquet - 12"436
4 - Vitaly Petrov - Campos - 17"081
5 - Andreas Zuber - Piquet - 17"485
6 - Jerome D'Ambrosio - Dams - 18"482
7 - Karun Chandhok - iSport - 20"330
8 - Mike Conway - Trident - 23"024
9 - Alvaro Parente - Super Nova - 28"848
10 - Luca Filippi - ART - 41"255
11 - Diego Nunes - DPR - 54"160
12 - Yelmer Buurman - Arden - 57"581
13 - Andy Soucek - Super Nova - 57"817
14 - Javier Villa - Racing Engineering - 58"529
15 - Adrian Valles - BCN - 1'01"455
16 - Carlos Iaconelli - BCN - 1'20"438
17 - Marko Asmer - FMSI - 1'21"042
18 - Alberto Valerio - Durango - 2 laps
Fastest Lap : Giorgio Pantano 1'25"352
Championship :
1.Pantano 35; 2.Senna 26; 3.Grosjean, Parente 19; 5.Maldonado 18; 6.Petrov, Zuber 17; 8.Buemi 14; 9.Chandhok 13; 10.Conway 11; 11.Kobayashi, Di Grassi 8; 13.Tung 7; 14.Rodriguez 6; 15.Valles 5; 16.D'Ambrosio, Villa 3; 18.Valsecchi 2; 19.Hanley. Soucek, Carroll.