Former grand prix winner Jean Alesi only qualified eighth, but he stormed through the pack to hit front before half distance. Once in front he controlled the race and maintained a safe gap back to Mattias Lauda in second. “I am very happy to get my first Speedcar win,” said Alesi. “The pace of the race was very fast and the conditions were difficult. I’m glad we didn’t have rain in the race, I think it was more enjoyable for everyone in the dry.”

Local hero Ananda Mikola had romped away into an early lead at the start, but an unforced error cost him dearly. He braked too late for a chicane, bounced across the grass, and spun as he rejoined the circuit. He dropped down to fourth and later dropped out of contention with a puncture.

Alesi’s journey to the front was helped by Alzen and Morbidelli, who both went off on the first lap, and series guest star Klaus Ludwig also went off the road on lap two. Lauda, Stefan Johansson, and Johnny Herbert were all fighting over second place when Johansson was forced wide and lost momentum. This gave Alesi a run at him and the pair went side-by-side until Johansson slid off the road exiting turn three.

Once Mikola had spun out of the lead, Alesi had only to catch and pass Lauda to claim his first Speedcar victory and he was already in the lead with half the race to go. “It was unfortunate for Mikola,” added Alesi. “I was very impressed with his speed today. He just made a small mistake – I did the same thing in Dubai last time.”

Lauda held onto second place and Herbert took third, with the battles raging all the way down the field. Johansson, Navarro and Ukyo Katayama traded more paint as they tried to recover from incidents, and Alzen had another spin late on.

The drivers now prepare for the second race of the weekend tomorrow afternoon. This is the first round where points are calculated towards the overall Speedcar Series title and 3 million US dollars in prize money which will be awarded at the end of the season in Dubai on April 12, 2008.

 

Speedcar Series - Results Race 1

POS	NO	ENTRANT	LAPS	TIME	GAP	BEST	LAP
1	27	J. ALESI	27	45:48.803		1:33.237	16
2	21	M. LAUDA	27	45:54.263	5.460	139.927	14
3	69	J. HERBERT	27	45:58963	10.160	1:33.564	14
4	20	D. TERRIEN	27	46:15.191	26.388	1:33.693	12
5	8	U. ALZEN	27	46:24.016	35.213	1:33.562	11
6	71	N. NAVARO	27	46:24.222	35.419	1:33.777	8
7	80	K. LUDWIG	27	46:47.253	58.450	1:34.226	11
8	18	A. MIKOLA	26	46:46.421	1 LAP	1:32.316	2
9	85	H. AL MAKTOUM	26	47:09.533	1 LAP	131.170	11
10	17	F. GIROIX	25	46:45.647	2 LAPS	1:33.833	8
11	10	G. MORBIDELLI	24	46:28.975	3 LAPS	1:33.096	9
12	7	S. JOHANSSON	23	41:13.976	DNF	1:34.963	12
13	6	U. KATAYAMA	23	46:56.914	4 LAPS	1:34.264	13

Fastest Lap
18      A. MIKOLA            1:32.316 on lap 2              154.621
Not Classified
36   M. SOEPRAPTO       17             4:56.603     10 LAPS          1:35.688   10