2010 Spanish Grand Prix

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The Spanish Grand Prix lined up as the first match point for Nordsjoen Racing driver Janne Tanskanen, who had the opportunity to clinch his first ever World Championship by simply outscoring closest rival Mark Wicks of Woods Racing. A race that was so eagerly waited proved a tense affair from qualifying, where the two title rivals set themselves up on the front row, the Finn 0.388s in front of Wicks. Their team-mates, Kieran Ryan and Adam Rouse, lined up in 3rd and 4th respectively.

Formation lap saw incidents already - a spin by Sam Millar who was then collected by Mark Bullivant's Yellowbird. The English driver had to return to the pit-lane for repairs even before the green lights, but was disqualified for leaving the pits under red flags, a very quick exit for the young driver.

Wicks knew he had to stick a perfect start to leapfrog Tanskanen, but his attempt was spoiled by his car's engine, whose loss of power meant the Cornish driver was passed by both Ryan and Jason Muscat. Behind the leaders, a contact between Adam Smith's Williamson Dynamics and Mark Fuller's ST Racing saw the latter end up beached and the only retiree of Lap 1.

As the leaders sped off, it became clear something was wrong with Phil Perkins's car. Usually a front runner on his powerful Draig, the veteran was unable to put his Ferrari engine to good use and struggled with the car's handling. Perkins collected many off-road excursions and saw his position go down in the standings quickly. Meanwhile, Nikos Evangelidakis had it worse as his defensive maneuvers against Smith resulted in him being punted out - a broken rear wing meant retirement for the Greek. Red Archer team-mate Muscat was only slightly luckier - a nudge by Mark Wicks saw the Maltese driver lose 3rd to the Woods and also 4th to Adam Rouse.

What had started as a promising weekend for Sam Millar turned into a nightmare as he stopped for an early pit on lap 4, just as Mark Stanton pulled a double move on Bastien Gauthier and Liam Hatchell who were clashing for 6th. Re-emerging from the pits, the Scottish driver had a run-in with Gauthier, whose attempt to take the position back resulted in retirement as he returned to the pits, seemingly out of fuel, on lap 15. Arriving with his engine stopped, the Synergetic Motorsports driver spread panic in the pit lane as he spun out of his pitbox and crashed into the pitwall. Luckily, no team personnel was harmed, although the incident meant Millar's race was over.

The first window of pit-stops saw Adam Rouse as the main loser of the pack - punished for speeding in the limited area, he was forced to take a drive-through from which he emerged 7th. Meanwhile, two spins on fresh tyres meant Kieran Ryan surrendered position to both Wicks and Muscat by lap 25.

The Irishman's horrible weekend continued as, on lap 35, he stopped for his second refueling of the day. The Woods driver spun in the pit entrance, bringing shivers again down the spines of the mechanics around him, and left the pits after a really long time, virtually giving up his position to Rouse, who pitted five laps later.

With only 8 cars still running, victory went to Janne Tanskanen, who could manage his 1.8s lead over Wicks to claim his first World Championship title. Jubilant scenes at the Nordsjoen Racing motorhome meant the Finn succeeded team-mate Joe Consiglio after getting oh-so-close to the 2009 title as well. Jason Muscat closed in 3rd, collecting his second podium in a row in the process.

Preceded by:
2010 Argentine Grand Prix
2010 Spanish Grand Prix
2010
Succeeded by:
2010 Italian Grand Prix