Menu wins chaotic second race at Pau

An insane race gave Alain Menu his first win of the 2009 season. After the start Franz Engstler led, but the safety car came out to late, collecting the on storming German just after the start finish line. The race was red flagged and was later resumed behind the safety car.

At the first start it was Franz Engstler and Felix Porteiro that overtook Menu, but Menu immediately retook second place from Porteiro. Further back Andy Priaulx pushed Jörg Müller into the wall, forcing the German to get back to the pits with a wheel broken off.

A corner later it was Sergio Hernandez that was pushed out by Felix Porteiro, bunching the field up and forcing Priaulx to hit the back of Boardman. That caused Boardman’s suspension to collapse a couple of corners later and he went into the barriers.

This called out the safety car, but came out to late, and when he finally did, the safety car steered immediately into the center of the track, leaving no room for Franz Engstler to slow down or avoid.

The privateer driver hit the safety car hard with over a 100 km/h difference. The race directors had no other choice than to bring out the race flag and suspend the race.

After the race was restarted behind the safety car, Jörg Müllers car was repaired just like Tom Coronels car, who had his engine changed during the break between both races. The pair started from the pit lane at the back of the field.

Menu led the field after the safety car released the field, and Jörg Müller was given a drive through penalty for coming into the pit while the race was suspended.
On lap 6 Felix Porteiro also received a drive through penalty for pushing off Sergio Hernandez, dropping him back out of second to the middle of the pack.

Lap 9 saw Zanardi start his way forward as he moved up to 7th passed Rickard Rydell. A lap later the Italian driver got passed Yvan Muller for sixth place. Laurent Cazenave meanwhile pushed Rydell into a spin under the bridge, earning himself a drive through penalty.

On lap 12 Alex Zanardi moved up another spot when he passed Tarquini for 5th.

Further back Eric Cayrolle was caught in a big fight with Nicola Larini over the final point. On the last lap Cayrolle made a small error and went into the barriers. As he got back on track he was collected by Nicola Larini, causing the track to be blocked. The red flag was brought out again and the race was not restarted.

Alain Menu took the win from Augusto Farfus, who had tried to get passed the entire race, but did not succeed. Rob Huff took the last spot on the podium in front of Andy Priaulx. Zanardi finished in fifth ahead of the two SEAT’s of Tarquini and Muller.

Because the results are taken from the last completed lap, Cayrolle finishes in eighth and gets the last point.