Poirier wins season opener
Benetton driver Steven Poirier has taken his second career win, his first one since his home GP in 1992. Starting from 12th he quickly worked through the field, taking the lead a few laps after the halfway point, then only losing with for a few laps after his second stop.
At the start Utzer could keep 1st, while his teammate Saidy got up to second. The two had an intense battle for a couple of laps, until Saidy forced his way past in lap 7. Being on a 3 stop strategy he could quickly build a gap. At this point Martins at Kederer had already dropped out of the top 6, both spinning off after contacts while battling for positions, in different incidents though.
Within a few laps both Ancevski and Kederer retired, the former with electrical problems, the latter crashing out.
After everyone had stopped once, Saidy was back in the lead followed by Utzer, Foro, Diehl, Poirier and Wolf. Utzer then with a slight mistake which dropped him down to 5th. Around the same time Néron had to stop his BAR with an oil leak. Drama for Saidy in lap 33, running a bit wide in the final corner he lost control of the car and crashed into the wall.
Poirier inherited the lead, followed by Utzer and Wolf. After the last pitstops Utzer dropped out of the podium places due to another mistake, which promoted Wolf to 2nd and Foro to 3rd. With 2 laps to go Keranen secured the last point by passing Jimmy Laad.
FIA Press Conference
@Steven Poirier: Perfect way to start the season, but probably unexpected after only starting from 12th?
@oldwolf: After a dismal '98 season, this must pretty much be a perfect start for you with your new team?
@Benutzername: Rather unusual to see you making this many mistakes, what was the cause for that?
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