Kamui Kobayashi claimed his maiden win in this year's series today in race two at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona after a mistake by Romain Grosjean at the restart with just 3 laps remaining handed the Japanese driver the lead ahead of Sébastien Buemi and Giorgio Pantano.
Grosjean looked to have the race sewn up after dispatching Kobayashi at turn one on the second lap, but a spin by Giacomo Ricci at the final turn prompted a safety car period: at the restart the French driver ran wide before re-entering the track and was extremely forceful to maintain his position at turn one, but was handed a drive through penalty for his efforts.
At the restart Grosjean lost the composure he had shown all race long by running wide at the chicane and crossing the run off area, forcing his way back on track in front of Kobayashi and dealing with him very firmly at the end of the straight: he was brought with one lap remaining to hand the delighted Japanese driver the win and the bonus point for fastest lap time, ahead of Buemi, Pantano, Bruno Senna, an ecstatic Davide Valsecchi and local driver Javier Villa.
Grosjean looked to have the race sewn up after dispatching Kobayashi at turn one on the second lap, but a spin by Giacomo Ricci at the final turn prompted a safety car period: at the restart the French driver ran wide before re-entering the track and was extremely forceful to maintain his position at turn one, but was handed a drive through penalty for his efforts.
At the restart Grosjean lost the composure he had shown all race long by running wide at the chicane and crossing the run off area, forcing his way back on track in front of Kobayashi and dealing with him very firmly at the end of the straight: he was brought with one lap remaining to hand the delighted Japanese driver the win and the bonus point for fastest lap time, ahead of Buemi, Pantano, Bruno Senna, an ecstatic Davide Valsecchi and local driver Javier Villa.