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Carry on Kamui.

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GP2 Series rookie Kamui Kobayashi wasted little time in picking up from where he had left off in the inaugural Asia Series, winning on the opening round of the 'summer' competition in Barcelona on Sunday.

While he will admit to there having been a small element of fortune in his success - when leader Romain Grosjean was penalised for excessively defending his position after a late safety car - the Japanese driver confirmed that the DAMS team could be one to reckon with this year.

Having secured pole position courtesy of eighth place in Saturday's feature race, Kobayashi got away with his own robust move, on Sebastien Buemi, at the start to lead the sprint event until Asia Series champion Grosjean came through from fourth place, eventually seizing the advantage at half distance. Although the Frenchman then appeared to be heading for a comfortable victory as he eased away from the DAMS car, Giacomo Ricci's spin at the chicane with six laps left brought the field back together.

When Grosjean then made a mistake as he prepared to lead the pack onto the start-finish straight for the restart, Kobayashi pounded heading into turn one, only for his rival to move across the track and edge him onto the grass. Grosjean held his lead, but was quickly summoned by the stewards to serve a drive-thru' penalty that dropped him to 13th and handed Kobayashi the advantage once again. To cap it all for the Japanese driver, he was also handed the point for fastest lap, as Grosjean's result outside the top ten meant that he was no longer eligible under 2008 rules.

“We were a bit disappointed after qualifying yesterday, but the team did a great job and turned the tables," team manager Eric Boullier commented, "It's this kind of reaction that makes all the difference in a championship. DAMS is certainly one of the most competitive outfits in the opening races of the GP2 Series, and we'll do everything possible to confirm that in the coming events. Congratulations to Kamui for his perfect drive!”

Kobayashi was cheered from the foot of the podium by the entire Panasonic Toyota Racing team as his points haul lifted him into fourth place in the standings.

“By opening the season with a victory, I've made the best possible start to the championship," he noted, "The car's been competitive all weekend and I've scored points on two occasions, so we've shown that we're among the frontrunners. It's all very positive and I'm champing at the bit to increase my tally in the next race.”

It had been tougher in race one, however, with Kobayashi having to fight through from a disappointing 13th on the grid to eventually take eighth spot and secure pole for Sunday's reverse grid race.

“It was my first start with the new car, so it was all unknown territory," he insisted, "Two cars stalled on the same row as me and I had to zig-zag [between them], losing a place. After my refuelling stop, I was held up for two-thirds of the race by two slower drivers but, luckily, I managed to get past one of them before the finish.”