Sébastien Buemi has launched his 2008 GP2 Series title bid with a vengeance, by gambling on tyre choice in a damp race two at Magny-Cours to lead home an Arden one-two in France.
After beginning the race a lowly 21st on the grid following his Saturday retirement, Buemi mastered the tricky conditions to seal a dramatic victory, chancing slick tyres and avoiding all of the chaos around him to vault himself up into third spot in the championship battle.
Rain fell steadily on the French circuit overnight but stopped just prior to the start of the race, handing engineers all along the pit-lane a nightmarish dilemma – whether to play it safe and run wets, or throw the dice and gamble on slicks. The top three drivers at the chequered flag had all taken the risk…
At lights out, though, pole-sitter Mike Conway led the grid away, with Jérome D'Ambrosio and Vitaly Petrov making strong starts to slot in behind as the slick-shod drivers simply tried to hold on in the greasy conditions.
The Belgian lost second place shortly afterwards when he ran wide and came together with front row starter Karun Chandhok, with a whole stream of cars flowing by the pair and setting off after the leaders.
There were battles all around the circuit as the drivers pushed the limits of adhesion to make up places, but further back it was becoming clear that a drier line was emerging and a change of tyres was on the cards for most of the field. Arden's Yelmer Buurman was the best-placed of the slick-shod competitors, and as his rivals dribbled into the pits he steadily rose up the timesheets until he was in P1.
The tricky conditions caught out many drivers – GP2 Asia Series king Romain Grosjean retired in the gravel trap just after changing over to slicks – with most of the field hitting someone as they struggled to control their cars, including a big impact at the hairpin between race one winner and championship leader Giorgio Pantano and Petrov, which put the series leader out of the race shortly afterwards.
![Arden pairing Yelmer Buurman [left] and Sebastien Buemi celebrate on the Magny-Cours podium [pic credit: GP2 Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/458060.jpg)
