Monza 2006 - Aleshin scores first win.

Saturday, 14th April 2007

Mikhail Aleshin kept his head whilst carnage reigned around him on the way to his maiden World Series by Renault victory in the opening round of the championship at Monza.

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Back at the front, most eyes were on Formula Renault graduate Bertrand Baguette, the Belgian taking on more fancied opposition with superb lap times that eventually saw him climb his way onto the provisional podium in third. However, his fairytale debut was ended by an agonising puncture, while KTR’s promising run was well and truly ruined when Moreau followed him into retirement just a lap later.

With Parente pushing Aleshin hard in the closing stages having botched an attempt at passing on the first restart, it was left to Bonanomi and Fairuz Fauzy to dispute third but when the Malaysian tried to secure a podium on his World Series debut on the final lap, he was squeezed onto the grass and eased into a spin.

It left Bonanomi to cruise to third position behind Aleshin and Parente, the latter securing the first podium for the fledgling Tech 1 Racing team in the process.

“Everything went well until the safety car came out for second time,” Aleshin said. “I then had some problems with the brakes and Alvaro came right back at me. But I kept on pushing right to the end.”

Formula Renault Eurocup Champion Filip Albuquerque fought his way up through the field to claim fourth, edging out Vettel, who spun out of contention on lap two only to come back through the order to complete a strong day for Carlin Motorsport.

Indeed, the eventful 24 laps allowed several drivers who had struggled in qualifying to reap rewards with steady driving in the race, including Milos Pavlovic in sixth and especially Celso Miguez in seventh, the Spaniard having also been thrown to the back of the grid with Jousse for a yellow flag infringement.

Miguel Molina claimed three points for eighth, ahead of Salvador Duran and Pippa Mann, the Brit making history to become the first woman to start a World Series race, let alone score on her debut. Even better, she will start the second race tomorrow from pole position thanks to new rules that see the top ten reversed to make up the grid.