Giorgio Pantano has claimed his first win of the season in style, leading all the way from start to finish despite a safety car period, storming his way to the chequered flag ahead of Romain Grosjean and Andreas Zuber.
It was a sprint that was easily controlled by Pantano, who crossed the line 1.7 seconds ahead of Grosjean and Zuber, who was delayed enough by backmarkers at the restart to deny him the attack he had been waiting all race to perform, but picked up the fastest lap for his efforts.
Chandhok opened his points account with a fine fourth place drive, ahead of Petrov, Buemi, Villa and Carroll, with the Spaniard taking seventh place at the end of the back straight on the last lap, in a move that must have had the Ulsterman flashing back to the same place two years ago when Lewis Hamilton made the exact same move.
The win pushed Pantano into a strong early lead in the championship on 21 points, ahead of Zuber on 13 and Grosjean on 12, with the trio toasting their good fortune on the podium with champagne and thinking of the battle to come tomorrow.
Istanbul- Race 1
Driver Team
1. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering
2. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix
3. Andreas Zuber Piquet Sports
4. KarunChandhok iSport International
5. Vitaly Petrov Barwa International Campos Team
6. Sébastien Buemi Trust Team Arden
7 Javier Villa Racing Engineering
8. Adam Carroll Fisichella Motor Sport International
9. Mike Conway Trident Racing
10. AdrianValles BCN Competicion
11. Ho-Pin Tung Trident Racing
12. Roldan Rodriguez Fisichella Motor Sport International
13. Diego Nunes DPR
14. Yelmer Buurman Trust Team Arden
15. Bruno Senna iSport International
16. Luca Filippi ART Grand Prix
17. Ben Hanley Barwa International Campos Team
18. Alberto Valerio Durango
19. Andy Soucek Super Nova Racing
Fastest lap time: Andreas Zuber (Piquet Sports) - 1:33.482 on lap 33
Not Classified
Driver Team
Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dams
Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports
MilosPavlovic BCN Competicion
Giacomo Ricci DPR
Alvaro Parente Super Nova Racing
Kamui Kobayashi Dams
It was a sprint that was easily controlled by Pantano, who crossed the line 1.7 seconds ahead of Grosjean and Zuber, who was delayed enough by backmarkers at the restart to deny him the attack he had been waiting all race to perform, but picked up the fastest lap for his efforts.
Chandhok opened his points account with a fine fourth place drive, ahead of Petrov, Buemi, Villa and Carroll, with the Spaniard taking seventh place at the end of the back straight on the last lap, in a move that must have had the Ulsterman flashing back to the same place two years ago when Lewis Hamilton made the exact same move.
The win pushed Pantano into a strong early lead in the championship on 21 points, ahead of Zuber on 13 and Grosjean on 12, with the trio toasting their good fortune on the podium with champagne and thinking of the battle to come tomorrow.
Istanbul- Race 1
Driver Team
1. Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering
2. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix
3. Andreas Zuber Piquet Sports
4. KarunChandhok iSport International
5. Vitaly Petrov Barwa International Campos Team
6. Sébastien Buemi Trust Team Arden
7 Javier Villa Racing Engineering
8. Adam Carroll Fisichella Motor Sport International
9. Mike Conway Trident Racing
10. AdrianValles BCN Competicion
11. Ho-Pin Tung Trident Racing
12. Roldan Rodriguez Fisichella Motor Sport International
13. Diego Nunes DPR
14. Yelmer Buurman Trust Team Arden
15. Bruno Senna iSport International
16. Luca Filippi ART Grand Prix
17. Ben Hanley Barwa International Campos Team
18. Alberto Valerio Durango
19. Andy Soucek Super Nova Racing
Fastest lap time: Andreas Zuber (Piquet Sports) - 1:33.482 on lap 33
Not Classified
Driver Team
Jérôme d'Ambrosio Dams
Pastor Maldonado Piquet Sports
MilosPavlovic BCN Competicion
Giacomo Ricci DPR
Alvaro Parente Super Nova Racing
Kamui Kobayashi Dams