He may not have been able to do anything about a flawless Oliver Turvey, but Adrian Zaugg's second place on the streets of Monaco went some way to easing the South African's frustration after the opening rounds of the World Series by Renault campaign.

Best results of fifth and seventh from the earlier double-headers have given Zaugg a solid platform on which to build his new relationship with the Interwetten.com team, but the partnership had yet to shine before qualifying in the Principality saw the GP2 refugee line up behind Brits Turvey and James Walker. With overtaking at a premium, and no second chance as on a normal WSbR weekend, Zaugg knew that he had to make the most of his opportunity.

"I just concentrated on a perfect start," he said, "I got off the line rapidly and, shortly after the green light, was next to Walker who started from grid position two. He pushed me into the crash barrier, but I held against him and was in front after the first bend. That was the key for the second place as there was not much more I could have done to improve my position.

"I was close to Turvey, but I just had to watch for a mistake from him. As Oliver drove a faultless race, he really deserves the victory, but I am delighted about my second place. The season has just started and, with today's points, I am now in sixth in overall. After we were twice pretty much unlucky, I could finally show how strong the driver-car combination really is. Nothing is impossible."

It wasn't all good news for the Interwetten team, and Zaugg was made to wait before he could even entertain thoughts of challenging Turvey, for team-mate Mihai Marinescu was unable to engage first gear at the start and, by the time he realised the failure, Daniil Move had crashed into the rear of his car. The two cars were so heavily wedged together that the safety car was sent out until the track was clear, limiting the number of laps that Zaugg had to mount an assault on the lead. Turvey, however, proved faultless, taking the win and leaving Zaugg to settle for second.