24/01/2009
NEWS STORY
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Starting from pole position on the reversed grid, Barwa International Campos Team debutant Sergio Perez managed to lead from the start to the chequered flag.
The young Mexican had to cope with intense pressure from Durango's Davide Valsecchi who in the last stages of the race reduced the gap, but Perez held on and claimed his first win.
With Giedo Van der Garde failing to get away for the formation lap, Valsecchi in fourth place had a clean track in front of him for the start and took advantage of the situation to come out of the first corner in second position, with Nico Hülkenberg close behind. The Italian tried to stay as close as possible to the Campos man, but while Valsecchi had more pace in the final laps, he never could get close enough to really try for the win.
While Perez kept a steady gap between him and his closest rival, it was Jérôme d'Ambrosio who stole the show: starting from seventh on the grid, he dropped to eighth after a relatively poor start. However, the Dams ace displayed outstanding skill, passing first his teammate Kamui Kobayashi, then Earl Bamber, Roldan Rodriguez - who was struggling with his tyres - Javier Villa five laps later and finally Nico Hülkenberg on the very last lap. He crossed the finish line in a well-deserved third position. Hülkenberg finished fourth ahead of Javier Villa. Championship leader and feature race winner Kamui Kobayashi grabbed the last point, finishing sixth of the event.
After this first round, Kamui Kobayashi is now leading Davide Valsecchi by 24 points to 34, ahead of Roldan Rodriguez just 2 points behind the Durango driver. The best performer of the weekend, Jérôme d'Ambrosio is now fourth with Javier Villa and Sergio Perez behind him on both 10 points.