The Super Nova driver, now fully fit after his injury-ridden 2007 debut campaign, joined the luckless Vitaly Petrov on the sidelines, the Russian not even starting the race after a recurrence of the gearbox problems that sidelined him in qualifying. Petrov could have started from the pit-lane, but instead it was Davide Valsecchi and Kamui Kobayashi lining up at the gate, the latter a helpless victim of the former stalling on the formation lap. Ho-Pin Tung then failed to getaway at the first attempt, dropping to the tail of the field, while rookie Michael Herck stopped on track to complete the retirees.
With the points for pole and race win already in his pocket, Grosjean came close to completing a sweep of the scoring opportunities when he wrested fastest lap back from Marco Bonanomi, the Italian having opted to cut his losses after being forced off the road by Alberto Valerio and go for the bonus. A pit-stop to replace a broken front wing - the legacy of contact with the marker boards into turn one - also allowed Bonanomi to fit fresh tyres, but his flying lap was quickly matched by Grosjean. The Frenchman, however, was not to have it all his own way, with Senna, once free of the Soucek roadblock, able to bang in an even faster tour in the closing stages.
Sunday's sprint race, in which the two fastest men will start from row four, promises to be an intriguing spectacle.
![Romain Grosjean - ART Grand Prix [pic credit: GP2 Series]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/404017.jpg)
