Magny-Cours 2006: Perfect Pantano pips Piquet.

Giorgio Pantano delivered FMS International their first ever GP2 Series win after desperately holding off a feisty Nelson Piquet Jr in the sprint race for round seven of the championship at Magny-Cours.

While it is not the first ever win for the Coloni team from which FMS emerged out of earlier in the year, it is the first win for team boss Giancarlo Fisichella, the Italian no doubt hoping he can match Pantano's performance when he lines up on the grid for the French Grand Prix.

Indeed, while it was a race full of incident and excellent drivers from a number of drivers, all eyes were on Pantano as he crossed the line rapturous applause and furious fist pumping from his delighted team.

Starting the race in third position by virtue of his sixth place in the feature races, Pantano made a good start but he remained in his place after front row sitters Ferdinando Monfardini and Lucas di Grassi managed to withstand the pressure and get out in front by the first corner.

Further back though, there were complications when Premat got a similar start to the one that saw him vault from seventh to fourth in the first race. Indeed, starting seventh again, Premat was diving up the inside of Xandi Negrao for fourth but instead found himself tapped off the circuit, while Negrao damaged his car as team-mate Piquet dived back through.

Having held onto the lead through the first corner, di Grassi slipped up the inside of the DAMS car and slotted into the lead. It was a move that caught Monfardini unawares and as he attempted to recover, spun off the circuit on the very next turn, while Ernesto Viso and Hiroki Yoshimoto's hopes of points ended when they also came together on the same bend.

With an eventful first lap over, di Grassi led the way, ahead of Pantano, Piquet, Jose Maria Lopez, the ailing Negrao and race one victor Timo Glock. It was not long though before it was Pantano's name sitting proudly at the top of the classifications when he passed di Grassi for the lead and set about maintaining it to the chequered flag.

Further back though, the big movers were Lewis Hamilton and his delayed ART Grand Prix team-mate Premat, who were now 12th and 13th. Indeed, the duo were making swift progress through the field, but it was Premat who was the man on the move, passing three cars, including Hamilton, to move into the top ten.

With Hamilton in tow, Premat set about establishing a points finish from his unlikely position, although both of their causes were aided when Lopez threw his car off the circuit at 180, while Negrao succumbed to his damage by pulling into the pit lane. Both Premat and Hamilton then pushed their way past Olivier Pla for eighth place, with just the Arden duo of Neel Jani and Michael Ammermuller separating them from a place in the points.

Eighth for Premat soon became fifth when he eased past both Arden cars and then Clivio Piccione soon after, Hamilton duly repeating his team-mates actions by moving into sixth place behind him.

Up at the front di Grassi was slipping into the clutches of Piquet, the Brazilian's Durango not being able to sustain the same kind of race-long pace as his rivals. Indeed, di Grassi eventually bowed to the inevitable, with Piquet moving into second place with a move at Elysee.

di Grassi's hopes of a podium disappeared soon after on lap 12 when Glock, who was steadily moving through the field from eighth on the grid, made a move stick at Nurburgring following the drag down from Adelaide,

It was not long before di Grassi was then having to fend off the fast approaching ART double-pronged attack, with Premat and Hamilton easily finding a way through as di Grassi's tyres began to wear.

Glock was not safe either from the rampant Premat and was forced to defend heavily from the Frenchman over the remaining few laps, the pair knocking wheels several times before Premat finally made a decisive move and clambered into third place.

With third seemingly sewn up, the attention turn to the battle for the race win, a tussle that was intensifying with every lap. Indeed, having been released by di Grassi, Piquet was soon hounding the tail of Pantano for the lead, the Brazilian using all of his know-how to force his car down the inside of the Italian or at least tempt him into a mistake.

Nonetheless, Pantano is an experienced driver and his guile showed when he managed to keep the Brazilian behind him right to the chequered flag, claiming victory by just half a second, much to the delight of his team, who had spent the last few laps daring to look at the TV screens.

Premat came round nine seconds later for third following a superb drive in front of his home fans, even if he will no doubt be ruing his first corner clash that pitched him down the field in the first place.

Glock held off Hamilton to claim fourth on a weekend where the German marked himself out as a genuine front runner, and while championship leader Hamilton will be determined to put a disappointing French round behind him, he will be pleased to have risen from 19th on the grid to finish fifth by the chequered flag.

Fighting off the advances of Neel Jani, di Grassi eventually crossed the line in sixth place for the final point, the Brazilian claiming an impressive double points finish over the weekend.