Finn wins in front of 36,000 race fans

Heikki Kovalainen is almost home and dry as the World Series by Nissan champion after taking his fifth victory of the season yesterday at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Kovalainen only lost the lead during the pitstop cycle, but when the final car had stopped the Finn had a comfortable advantage which he maintained right up until a late safety-car intervention. The field was unleashed for a one-lap sprint to the flag, but Kovalainen stayed calm on his way to victory.

“It went exactly as we planned,” he said. “I made a good start and then for the first five laps I was waiting a little bit, trying to save the rear tyres. Towards the pitstop I started to push more and opened up a gap, and after the stop I got straight back to the same speed as before. It was a shame the safety car spoiled a big winning margin! But I had no problems and everything worked out perfectly for me.”

Making it a brilliant race for Pons, Kovalainen’s team-mate Adrian Valles took second place. The Spaniard came under a lot of pressure from Narain Karthikeyan before his pitstop, but a mistake in the pits dropped the Indian to fourth. The RC Motorsport man then chased Tristan Gommendy (Saulnier Racing) to the finish.

Juan Cruz Alvarez had a strong run to fifth for the Gabord Reyco team, while first-race winner Felix Porteiro (Epsilon Euskadi) profited from the late collision between Enrique Bernoldi and Olivier Pla to move up to sixth ahead of Tiago Monteiro. Now Monteiro has only the slenderest of hopes of catching Kovalainen in the championship.

Milos Pavlovic took another win in the World Series Lights race to wrap up the 2004 title – and become the first Yugoslav to win an international motor racing championship. The Vergani Formula star wins 180,000 Euros towards a World Series by Renault budget for next season for his prize. “I’ve never had such a good start to my budget!” he said. “I hope I can find a proper drive to do a good job in the World Series – this is a very important day in my career.”

After a first-corner crash forced out Matteo Pellegrino and Celso Miguez, Juan Antonio del Pino (Epsilon Sport) took second place from team-mate Simon Abadie.

WORLD SERIES First Race

1 Felix Porteiro                    Epsilon Euskadi            26’32.107

2 Heikki Kovalainen                 Pons Racing                 1,261

3 Enrique Bernoldi                  GD Racing                   3,733

4 Tristan Gommendy                  Saulnier Racing            4,106

5 Narain Karthikeyan                RC Motorsport             4,960

6 Sergio Hernandez                  Saulnier Racing            14,116

7 Juan Cruz Alvarez                 Gabrod Reyco              15,164

8 Jean-Christophe Ravier            Epsilon Euskadi            15,957

9 Olivier Pla                       Carlin Motorsport         28,176

10 Tiago Monteiro                   Carlin Motorsport         35,433

11 Pablo Donoso                     GD Racing                   39,851

12 Didier Andre                     KTR                            46,673

13 Giovanni Tedeschi                Vergani Formula           52,988

14 Takaya Tsubobayashi              Gabord Reyco              1’01.586

Retirements

Giacomo Ricci                          Vergani Formula           10 lap

Adrian Valles                           Pons Racing                 5 lap

Tomas Kostka                          RC Motorsport             1 lap

Fastest lap

Valles                                      1’32.475 (180.1km/h)

WORLD SERIES BY NISSAN SECOND RACE

Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)       Pons Racing              39’41.762

Adrian Valles (ESP)           Pons Racing              1.209

Tristan Gommendy (FRA)        Saulnier Racing          1.930

Narain Kartikeyan (IND)       RC Motorsport            2.260

Juan Alvarez (ARG)            Gabord Reyco             3.591

Felix Porteiro (ESP)          Epsilon Euskadi          4.946

Tiago Monteiro (POR)          Carlin Motorsport        5.597

Didier Andre (FRA)            KTR                      12.280

Pablo Donoso (CHI)            GD Racing                15.306

Sergio Hernandez (ESP)        Saulnier Racing            16.129

Fastest lap

Heikki Kovalainen  1.33.301 (184.8 km/h)

CHAMPIONSHIP WORLD SERIES BY NISSAN

Drivers

1. H Kovalainen (169), 2. T. Monteiro (110), 3. E. Bernoldi (104), 4. T. Gommendy (93), 5. J. Ravier (84), 6. N. Kartikheyan (67), 7. J. Alvarez (61), 8. F. Porteiro (56), 9. O. Pla (48), 10. A. Valles (39)….14. S. Hernandez (18), 15. D. Andre (17)…17. P. Donoso, (5), 18. G. Ricci (4)…20. T. Kostka (1)

Teams

1. Pons Racing (208), 2. Carlin Motorsport (148), 3. Epsilon Euskadi (135), 4. Saulnier Racing (111), 5. GD Racing (109), 6. RC Motorsport (78), 7. Gabord Reyco (61), 8. KTR (42), 9. Porfesa Competicion (38),…11. Vergani Formula (4)

WORLD SERIES LIGHTS FIRST RACE

1 Milos Pavlovic             26’05.275

2 Celso Miguez               1,754

3 Matteo Pellegrino          4,203

4 Simon Abadie               4,936

5 Mathieu Lahaye             - 1 lap

Retirements

uan Antonio del Pino     1 lap

Harold Primat                0 lap

Fast Lap

Miguez            1’36.327 (172.9km/h)

WORLD SERIES LIGHTS SECOND RACE

1 Milos Pavlovic        31’17.780

2 Juan Antonio del Pino 2,117

3 Simon Abadie          2,7674 Harold Primat         16,718

Retirements

Mathieu Lahaye           6 laps  

Not finishi first lap

Celso Miguez

Matteo Pellegrino

CHAMPIONSHIP  WORLD SERIES LIGHT

1-M Pavlovic (153) 2. C.Miguez (120) 3. S. Abadie (108) 4-M. Pellegrino (106) 5-H. Primat (75)6- B.Briere (74) 7 B.Lahaye (63) 8- Del Pino (38) 9- G.Tedeschi (29) 10. M. Cencetti

Vergani Formula (326)Epsilon Sport (221) Saulnier Ración (175) Meycom Sport (132) RC Motorsport 36)