Having withdrawn from Saturday's race before it had even started, World Series by Renault points leader Giedo van der Garde made amends with his fifth win of the season by taking the feature event at Le Mans.
In front of a healthy crowd - an estimated 170,000 spectators turned out over the weekend - the Dutch driver moved one step closer to securing the title, by seeing off the ever-present Ultimate Signature challenge of Fabio Carbone and Esteban Guerrieri.
Only 25 cars lined up on the start grid, with a clutch problem confining Robert Wickens' Carlin entry to the pits. Unlike van der Garde on Saturday, however, the Canadian was, thanks to his mechanics, able to join the race from there.
Polesitter Guerrieri did not get the start he wanted, as both van der Garde and team-mate Carbone both passed him on the first bend. The Argentine did manage to slot into third, however, with Mikhail Aleshin, in the second Carlin car, and race one winner Charles Pic lining up behind him. Further back, Siso Cunill ran into Marcos Martinez, forcing his own retirement, and sending his fellow Spaniard to the pits for repairs to he rear wing.
With metronomic consistency, van der Garde repeatedly set new fastest laps as he opened up a gap between himself and the chasing pack. After five laps, the P1 Motorsport driver had built a two-second lead over Carbone who, in turn, was well clear of Guerrieri. At the other end of the field, however, van der Garde's team-mate, Pippa Mann, pulled out, completing the retirements for the day with just six laps under her belt.
Sixth-placed Miguel Molina was the first man to change his tyres but, one by one, the others followed suit, Carbone and Pic stopping on lap eight, and van der Garde one lap later, promoting Guerrieri back to the front of the field. The Argentine then built up quite a head of steam before heading for the pits himself, hoping he had done enough to reclaim the lead for good by the time the dust settled.
![Giedo van der Garde - P1 Motorsport [pic credit: Renault Sport Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/464762.jpg)
