Alvaro Parente took his first win of the season - and the first win ever for Tech 1 Racing in the World Series by Renault at Monaco on Sunday, the fifth round in the series.
Parente got off to the best start from pole and led the field into Sainte-Dévote ahead of
Sebastian Vettel and Clivio Piccione. Despite the traditional jostling for position in the main field, all twenty-six cars made it through the first corner without incident.
Charlie Kimball and Alejandro Nunez were the first to retire however after clashing at Mirabeau.
At the end of the first lap, there was precious little to choose between Parente, Vettel and Piccione.
Salvador Duran, who had made a good start, was already struggling though and off the pace. The Mexican was pursued by Milos Pavlovic, Giedo van der Garde, Ben Hanley, Mikhail Aleshin, Davide Valsecchi and Fairuz Fauzy.
The safety car was brought out after two laps though following the Kimball-Nunez clash.
Racing resumed at the end of lap 3. The three leaders pulled away again whilst Fauzy was forced to retire, leaving Guillaume Moreau in tenth. Shortly afterwards, Ricardo Risatti went off at Massenet.
With 5 gone, Parente, Vettel and Piccione were within 1.2 seconds of each other. Duran and Pavlovic were the only ones who could keep pace with the three leaders. A good way back, van der Garde was being pushed hard by Hanley and Aleshin.
In the space of two laps, Parente extended his lead, which stood at over a second as the cars swept past the Royal Box for a seventh time.
At the start of lap 10, Alessandro Ciompi, who was lying in 17th position, ran into the barriers at Sainte-Dévote. Vettel took the fastest race lap from Parente, as he closed the gap to the leader. A few lengths back of the leaders, Piccione could see Duran looming large in his mirrors.
![Sebastian Vettel - Carlin Motorsport [pic credit: Renault Sport media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/249809.jpg)
