As it happened: Barcelona Race One
Minute by minute commentary as Andy Soucek scored his sixth victory of the season in his home race
Andy Soucek sealed his sixth win of the year at his home event,
jumping polesitter Robert Wickens from the start to take an assured
victory. Tristan Vautier produced arguably the drive of the day to
finish third on his debut, holding off Julien Jousse at the finish.
You can read updates as the race unfolded below:
14.38 - What a way to prove your
championship credentials. Soucek has been simply superb this
season, and in taking his sixth win of the season - incidentally
his 12th consecutive top four finish - he will have done his F1
hopes no harm at all. Vautier was similarly outstanding, finishing
third on his race debut. Commiserations to Robert Wickens, who will
be hoping for better luck tomorrow after retiring from fourth.
14.37 - Soucek wins his sixth race of the
season! The Spaniard crosses the line ahead of Aleshin, whilst
Vautier enjoys a fairytale debut, finishing third. Gachnang records
her first points of the year with seventh.
14.36 - Soucek comes round to start his final
lap. This will be the Spaniard's sixth victory of the season, and
what better place to record it than his home race in Spain.
14.34 - Jousse isn't close enough to have
another go, and he could be running out of chances here. Soucek and
Aleshin look comfortable in the first two positions, but it's
anyone's bet for third - still just six tenths between the
pair.
14.31 - Soucek is still leading by just over
three seconds, but the battle between Vautier and Jousse is
stealing the show. Vautier has to move to the inside and defend
running down into the first corner, forcing Jousse to try and pass
around the outside. Jousse has better position for the next corner,
but Tristan holds his line and stays ahead. Good stuff.
14.29 - Jousse really is close to the back of
Vautier's car now - this could be a really exciting finish.
14.26 - Hohenthal is off and into the barriers
- strange place to go off and the impact looked quite big.
Hopefully he is okay.
14.25 - Jousse is still hounding his
compatriot, but Vautier is looking strong at the moment. Eng and
Bortolotti are running fifth and sixth, whilst Natacha Gachnang
could be on for her first points of the year - the Swiss pilot is
currently seventh, although Kazim Vasiliauskas is less than a
second behind.
14.22 - Vautier makes a mistake, costing him
around eight tenths, and suddenly Jousse is all over the back of
Vautier's car. Jousse's car is squirming all over the place as he
tries to close the gap.
14.19 - Good battle shaping up here between De
Marco, Ebrahim and Gladdis - just over a second between the trio
and Ebrahim is hunting De Marco down.
14.17 - Looks like Gandolfi is off at turn
four. Tristan Vautier continues his impressive form by setting the
fastest time of anyone in the first sector.
14.14 - Soucek looks fairly comfortable out in
front, and has increased his gap to Aleshin - it now stands at
1.7s. Still very close though. Tristan Vautier is a further two
seconds down the road - what a debut this could be if he manages to
finish on the podium!
14.12 - Heartache for Robert Wickens, as he
pulls over and retires from the race. Looks like technical issues
there, and that really is a blow for the Canadian. He has been
sensational so far this weekend, but will have a lot of making up
to do in the next race after this.
14.11 - Right, a quick round up. We lost German
Sanchez on the first lap - not sure where though. Aleshin seems to
be catching Soucek, and Tom Gladdis has worked his way past
Brundle.
14.09 - Jason Moore and Jack Clarke come
together, with Moore becoming briefly airborne and spinning out. He
should be able to rejoin, though, and if there's no damage both
will be able to continue.
14.07 - Sorry about the technical problems - if
you've still not got the right feed, please refresh your
browsers.
14.04 - Plenty to talk about. Wickens gets
bogged down from the start, and Soucek passes him for the lead.
Vautier makes a plucky move and gets round the outside going into
the first corner, leaving poesitter Wickens down in fourth.
Bortolotti takes a trip across the inside of the corner, but
rejoins safely in seventh.
14.03 - The cars are all lined up and we're
just waiting for the lights to go green...
13.59 - Here we go again. The first of two
races in Barcelona is about to start. Robert Wickens is on pole,
but with the newly crowned champion alongside him - and remember,
Soucek has a habit of making brilliant starts - it could all be
about the run down to the first corner.