The first race at Valencia’s new street circuit threw up a major surprise finish when race leader Giorgio Pantano ran out of fuel almost within sight of the chequered flag, handing the win to a stunned Vitaly Petrov, who finished just ahead of Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean, with title challenger Bruno Senna failing to take advantage of his rival’s misfortune as he coasted across the line in ninth with an equally empty tank.
The Italian had the race in the palm of his hand, leading every lap apart from one after his pit stopafter making a storming start and setting a string of fastest laps to pull away from the Russian,who was one of the few drivers who could just about match Pantano on pace. The last lapdramas meant heartbreak for the Racing Engineering team, who had already climbed the pit wallto cheer their man home before releasing that something had gone horribly wrong.
Pantano left his fellow front row starter Maldonado standing when the lights went out, taking fulladvantage of starting on the clean side of the circuit, with Petrov also easily dismissing theVenezuelan before the first corner for second on track, who was ahead of Grosjean, Zuber,Jérôme D’Ambrosio and Senna, who had gained a position at the start when he outdraggedSébastien Buemi. But behind them Ho-Pin Tung was pushed into the wall before bouncing acrossthe track in front of Kamui Kobayashi, and inevitably the safety car was deployed.
Fast work by the marshals meant the race was live just one lap later, and with Petrov’s mirrors fullof Maldonado’s car Pantano was able to build a good lead over the Russian, who neverthelesswas looking unruffled by the Venezuelan’s attentions. With the possibility of another safety carhigh most of the teams brought their drivers in early for their pitstops, and when they had shakenout Pantano was a few seconds clear of Petrov, with Maldonado pushing hard behind a faststopping Grosjean, while Senna had also worked hard to get up to fifth place.
The tight, twisty nature of the circuit mitigated against overtaking, but the Maldonado / Grosjeanbattle finally boiled over when the pair collided at the final turn and Maldonado held the insideline, handing him the advantage on the long drag down to the first corner on lap 28, with manyassuming we had seen the last dramatic moment of the race. But on the final lap, withtemperatures soaring after the initial splash of rain on the first lap a number of drivers ran out offuel, including both of the championship leaders.
The result was Petrov was the first man to greet the chequered flag, just 0.8 seconds ahead ofMaldonado who himself was 4 seconds ahead of Grosjean, while Lucas di Grassi took advantageof the misfortune of others to move up to fourth place after he had slipped past D’Ambrosio a fewlaps earlier. Buemi finished sixth, with Andy Soucek and Luca Filippi right behind him to mop upthe points, while Senna at least crossed the line, albeit in ninth and just outside of the points. Torub salt into the wound Pantano lost the point for fastest lap after failing to finish in the top ten,handing it instead to Maldonado.
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