Behind them, Marco Bonanomi regained some of the ground he had lost at the start by passing the surprising Jason Tahinci for fifth, while Vitaly Petrov, Alberto Valerio, Hiroki Yoshimoto, Milos Pavlovic and Davide Valsecchi squabbled over positions in the top ten. Missing from the battle, however, was two-time race winner Kamui Kobayashi, who stalled on the line and found himself right at the back of the pack with only the bonus for fastest lap to chase.
While the earliest stoppers came in at the end of lap two, it wasn't until three laps later that anyone of significance opted for fresh tyres, with Buurman ducking out of fourth. Surprisingly, despite being tucked up behind Buemi, ART decided to leave Grosjean out until lap 13, seemingly costing the Frenchman any chance of catching and passing Senna as they dithered between being able to pass the Swiss driver and having enough clear air after Buemi had stopped on lap 11 to make a difference.
To make matters worse - or so it seemed - Grosjean's exit on cold rubber led him directly into side-by-side confrontation with his adversary at turn one, with the predominantly white ART machine coming off worst as Buemi held firm. The Swiss driver thus held station as the best-placed of those to have made their mandatory stops, while Senna headed Petrov and Ho-Pin Tung at the front of the field.
The Brazilian eventually came in on lap 14, with Petrov following suit after four laps out front, but the Brazilian had to wait a further four laps before resuming in P1 as Trident left Tung waiting for tyres until well past the half-way mark of the 34-lap distance. Once back in front, however, Senna made the most of the still squabbling Buemi and Grosjean battle to extend his advantage towards 20 seconds.
![Romain Grosjean - ART Grand Prix [pic credit: GP2 Series]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/404220.jpg)
