24/01/2009
NEWS STORY
Johnny Herbert won the second Speedcar Series race held in Bahrain this afternoon. It was a win that came down to the wire with Gianni Morbidelli in second spot and a surprise podium for new driver Thomas Biagi in third.
The reverse grid for Speedcar Series' second race put Giovanni Lavaggi on pole position which he lost almost immediately into the first lap. Biagi took the early lead for the initial lap but was put back to second by Gianni Morbidelli while Johnny Herbert moved in to third after having started sixth on the grid
The first three drivers maintained their positions for most of the 40 minute race until Herbert gained a position on Biagi in the 12th lap. Gianni Morbidelli looked strong in the lead but with just 6 minutes to go the Season 1 Champion inched closer to the Itanlian closing the gap to less than a second.
All eyes were on the front of the pack just as Morbidelli lost his end in a corner and Herbert squeezed past and took the lead into the final lap. With team mates and fellow Italians Biagi and Morbidelli in the top three, they take Palm Beach into the top spot on the Team Championship standings.
Johnny Herbert said of his win, "Sometimes you need a little bit of luck and I think I was lucky today. I stayed out of trouble and it paid off in the end."
Gianni Morbidelli who has been on the podium in Bahrain before during the first season commented, "Today's race was close and I made a mistake in the end and I paid for it. However, it was a good clean race and that's what is most important."
Further down the pack, several drivers were battling for position. Yesterday's race winner Jean Alesi gained 2 positions off the starting grid and finished sixth while current driver championship leader Heinz Harald Frentzen finished in fourth keeping him the lead with 21 points. However the German is now level with Johnny Herbert and will have to fight for every point from here on in with 4 rounds left to go in the Series.
Performing impressively was young French driver Damien Pasini of the JMB team earning points both yesterday and today by finishing in the top 8 positions. He and Johnny Herbert bring their team into second position in the team standings.
Another young driver who showed his mettle was Hasher Al Maktoum locked in battle with Jean Alesi for a few laps until the Frenchman came out on top. The UAE driver still finished with points one spot ahead of his team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi, both of whom scored points for their team today.
Marchy Lee, Jacques Villeneuve, Christopher Zoechling and Enzo Panacci did not have a very good day and were unable to finish the race.
Result
| Pos | Driver | Team | Laps | Gap |
| 1 | Herbert | JMB | 19 | 40:36.124 |
| 2 | Morbidelli | Palm Beach | 19 | + 0:02.560 |
| 3 | Biagi | Palm Beach | 19 | + 0:06.711 |
| 4 | Frentzen | Team Lavagi | 19 | + 0:14.668 |
| 5 | Pasini | JMB | 19 | + 0:20.253 |
| 6 | Alesi | HPR | 19 | + 0:20.920 |
| 7 | Al Maktoum | UP Team | 19 | + 0:27.245 |
| 8 | Liuzzi | UP Team | 19 | + 0:32.735 |
| 9 | Buncombe | Team Lavagi | 19 | + 0:42.400 |
| 10 | Lavaggi | Team Siram | 19 | + 0:51.597 |
| 11 | Charles | Continental Circus | 19 | + 2:17.688 |
| Zoechling | Durango | 10 | DNF | |
| Villeneuve | Durango | 8 | DNF | |
| Lee | HPR | 7 | DNF | |
| Panacci | Continental Circus | 2 | DNF |
Fastest Lap: Frentzen (Team Lavagi) 2:06.825 (Lap 9)