The battle for the minor points took on extra significance next time around as
Timo Glock's weekend took another turn for the worse. Having been involved in an intra-team clash with Zuber at the start on Saturday, the German crawled into the pits with suspected gearbox problems, leaving him pointless - and podium-less - for the first time this season. Although his points advantage was enough to ensure that he will go to
Silverstone at the head of the field, Filippi, Pantano, Lucas di Grassi and Senna all saw the chance to close the gap.
Although Ammermuller and Xandi Negrao both spun off, unaided, in separate incidents, there was no suggestion of the rain returning until Lapierre exited unexpectedly at Adelaide on lap 17. Even then, however, precipitation was not thought to have been the cause of the Frenchman's demise, the rear wheels on his DAMS Dallara barely locking as it skated, rapidly, across the gravel trap and into the tyre barrier.
The mishap, however, left Villa at the front of a GP2 race for the first time - feature race pit-stop windows aside - but the Spaniard showed no signs of being fazed, extending his advantage over Filippi as the 28-lap event moved into it closing stages. Filippi, in turn, was not really being threatened by Pantano, who did not appear to have the same sort of pace as on Saturday, while Vitaly Petrov, di Grassi and sixth-placed Mike Conway were all well adrift of the podium.
Conway was soon even further adrift, the Super Nova car slowing dramatically and being passed by Pastor Maldonado, Senna and
Kazuki Nakajima as the trio battled over the last remaining point. The Venezuelan's Trident car sounded rough, however, a damaged exhaust not helped by a touch from Senna as they braked for Lycee, and Maldonado was soon the next to be demoted, both Senna and Nakajima going through in an instant at Adelaide.
