Miguel Molina snatches victory at Nürburgring

31/08/08 - Nurburgring – Race 2

Salvador Duran (Interwetten.com Racing) was disqualified after the race, for technical non-conformity, and so it is Miguel Molina (Prema Powerteam) who claims victory, his first this season. Second, Julien Jousse (Tech 1 Racing) scores valuable points. Alvaro Barba (Prema Powerteam) moves up to third place.

There was drama during the warm-up lap when Mikhail Aleshin (Carlin Motorsport) lost control of his car and hit the tyre wall. Ninth on the grid, the Russian was forced to retire from the race before it had even started.

As the lights turned green Giedo Van der Garde (P1 Motorsport) suffered from too much wheel-spin and allowed Salvador Duran through. The Mexican completed the first lap ahead of Van der Garde, Miguel Molina, Marco Bonanomi (Red Devil Team Comtec) and Alvaro Barba (Prema Powerteam). Eleventh, Siso Cunnill (KTR) span out and dropped down the race order.

No one was able to gain an advantage at the beginning of the race. After five laps, the first twelve drivers were all within ten seconds of each other. Miguel Molina took the lead and decided to enter the pits for his obligatory stop. One lap later it was the turn of Julien Jousse.

In second, behind Salvador Duran; Giedo Van der Garde chose to refuel on lap seven, as did Fabio Carbone and Robert Wickens. A problem with his front left-hand wheel nut cost the championship leader precious time. Everything went smoothly for Salvador Duran, on the other hand, when he pulled in on the next lap.

At the end of the pit-stops, Salvador Duran kept his lead, followed very closely by Miguel Molina and Julien Jousse, who upped the rhythm and set the fastest lap of the race. Marco Bonanomi was fourth just ahead of Bertrand Baguette and Alvaro Barba. Meanwhile, Giedo Van der Garde had slipped back from second to eighth place.

In front, Salvador Duran appeared calm and increased his lead. There was still everything to play for in second. Julien Jousse was putting pressure on Miguel Molina but the Spaniard defended his position off perfectly.

Alvaro Barba found an opening and snatched fifth place from Bertrand Baguette. Barba then closed right up on Marco Bonanomi. The Spanish driver didn't waste any time in passing the Italian at the end of the pit straight. Highly charged, he then closed the gap on Julien Jousse in a few corners. Barba attacked as hard as he could, but Jousse left nothing to chance and held on to third.

Salvador Duran was the first past the chequered flag, but after the race, the scrutineers found a technical non-conformity related to his gearbox ratios. As such, Duran is disqualified from this race. The victory passes to Miguel Molina, who finished ahead of Julien Jousse and Alvaro Barba.

Miguel Molina: "I got off to a good start. The car was running very well and I found a good rhythm straight away. I took advantage of Van der Garde's problems in the pits to take second position. At the end of the race I just held on. Julien Jousse had to contend with my teammate. That took some of the pressure off me.»

Julien Jousse: «Starting from seventh place, it's a good result to finish on the podium. My team made a perfect pit-stop. My car was very competitive, I put in some fast laps after I came back out. Then it was very tight with Molina and then Alvaro Barba. Roll on Le Mans, I hope that I'll finally succeed and also manage to take a pole position!"

Pos Number Driver Team Laps Time GapFirst KPH

1 9 Miguel MOLINA PREMA POWERTEAM 23 42:13.332 - 171.8

2 1 Julien JOUSSE TECH 1 RACING 23 42:13.758 +0.426 172.9

3 10 Alvaro BARBA PREMA POWERTEAM 23 42:14.648 +1.316 172.7

4 25 Marco BONANOMI RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 23 42:17.560 +4.228 172.1

5 3 Bertrand BAGUETTE INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 23 42:18.309 +4.977 172.3

6 27 Fabio CARBONE ULTIMATE-SIGNATURE 23 42:18.777 +5.445 172.0

7 21 Giedo Van Der GARDE P1 MOTORSPORT 23 42:19.433 +6.101 172.0

8 20 Pablo SANCHEZ INTERWETTEN.COM RACING 23 42:22.674 +9.342 171.2

9 28 Esteban GUERRIERI ULTIMATE-SIGNATURE 23 42:23.493 +10.161 172.2

10 4 Marco BARBA INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 23 42:26.424 +13.092 172.3

11 15 Marcos MARTINEZ PONS RACING 23 42:31.007 +17.675 171.5

12 2 Charles PIC TECH 1 RACING 23 42:31.665 +18.333 172.1

13 23 James WALKER FORTEC MOTORSPORT 23 42:32.917 +19.585 171.4

14 12 Paolo Maria NOCERA RC MOTORSPORT 23 42:37.635 +24.303 171.6

15 26 Pasquale DiSABATINO RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 23 42:42.612 +29.280 170.8

16 8 Alexandre MARSOIN EPSILON-EUSKADI 23 42:45.183 +31.851 171.1

17 11 Claudio CANTELLI RC MOTORSPORT 23 42:45.513 +32.181 171.0

18 6 Robert WICKENS CARLIN MOTORSPORT 23 42:54.065 +40.733 171.2

19 22 Pippa MANN P1 MOTORSPORT 23 42:57.587 +44.255 171.8

16 Siso CUNILL KTR 19 43:29.554 169.3

24 Fairuz FAUZY FORTEC MOTORSPORT 18 34:04.360 170.9

7 Mario ROMANCINI EPSILON-EUSKADI 10 19:12.681 170.1

14 Aleix ALCARAZ PONS RACING 9 16:46.890 170.8

19 Salvador DURAN INTERWETTEN.COM RACING 23 42:11.529 172.2

5 Mikhail ALESHIN CARLIN MOTORSPORT 0

-Blanca de Foronda-

photos on automobilsport.com under PHOTOS - FORMULA