Misano 2006 - Maldonado DQ gives Vettel win.

Sebastian Vettel took advantage of penalties for both Pastor Maldonado and Ben Hanley to secure victory on his debut in the World Series by Renault at Misano.

The Venezuelan has so far dominated the weekend, going fastest in practice and then easing out to a comfortable pole, a position he maintained to the finish. However, a technical irregularity was discovered after the race and he was duly disqualified.

Together with a 25-second penalty for second placed Ben Hanley, Vettel was promoted from third to first and with it, victory in his debut race.

From the start, Maldonado was able to hold off a spirited challenge from Ben Hanley, the Brit aiming for his first World Series podium having qualified on the front row, while Vettel and Soucek duly slotted in behind.

There was a brief respite when Carlos Iaconelli went off on lap three, causing the safety car to emerge, but Maldonado once again was left to push out a comfortable gap on his rivals as those behind disputed the places. It wasn't long however before the drivers seemingly looked to be settling for their positions as gaps emerged between them.

However, the drama was not quite over after Mikhail Aleshin, Davide Valsecchi, Sean McINtosh and Christian Montanari all collided with one another, creating a pile-up that only Aleshin would emerge unscathed. All four drivers, who were running at the lower end of the top ten, were forced to retire.

At the chequered flag though it was Maldonado leading Hanley across the line for his second win of the season, while Vettel crossed the line an excellent third on his World Series debut.

It was to get better Vettel after the race too when his third was upgraded to second following the 25-second penalty exerted on Hanley for changing lanes repeatedly in his attempts to keep Soucek behind him.

However, second would then become first when Maldonado was also removed from his position, giving Carlin their first win of the year too.

Soucek claimed second, with Alvaro Parente secuirng the final podium place. Borja Garcia inherited fourth and fifth. The biggest winner was Alx Danielsson, the sole Comtec driver after contractual issues forced out Pascal Kochem earlier in the weekend.

The Swede was able to claim fifth having started 11th on the grid, ahead of the demoted Hanley, Aleshin, Enrico Toccacelo, James Rossiter and Robbie Kerr.