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Vasiliauskas takes maiden FPA victory

Lithuanian holds off Richard Plant at Brands Hatch

Kazim Vasiliauskas converted pole position into victory in round three of the 2009 Formula Palmer Audi Championship at Brands Hatch today (Sunday).

Vasiliauskas, Newgarden and Plant maintained position off the line before Newgarden ran wide at Surtees, allowing Plant to slip by into second. From that point both Vasiliaskas and Plant were entangled in a race long battle for the win. Plant pushed the Lithuanian driver at every opportunity, even down to the final tour where he set the fastest lap of the race, but Vasiliauskas held on to take the win. "This is great win for me," said Vasiliauskas. "This is a new car and circuit for me so the weekend has been very good. I feel that I can only get better, which is good news for the championship."

Plant was penalised for a jump start in yesterday's race two but he was delighted to make a return to the podium today: "At least I started when the lights went out today!" said Plant. "Kazim did really well to be honest. I tried to push him into a mistake but he just didn't make one."

Adam Foster took a comfortable third after he got by yesterday's double winner Josef Newgarden coming out Paddock Hill Bend - the American went on to finish fourth. "Although I am sure others will improve, I think today's podium has shown the likely contenders for the championship," said Foster.

There was an intense five-way battle for fifth that latest for the full 16 laps, with Tristan Vautier and Kenny Andrews swapping places on more than one occasion. In the end, Vautier held off Andrews with some impressive defensive driving. Behind Andrews was Paul Rees who had made a good move on Ashley Babbra to take seventh. Alonso was eighth, also getting past Babbra when the Briton made a mistake into Paddock. With his car bouncing across the gravel, Babbra showed great car control to keep away from the barrier and return to the track in ninth. Philipp Frommenwiler rounded out the top ten after getting by Ashley Davies midway through the contest.

There were also great battles further down the order - Thiago Calvet was a spinner coming out of Druids Hairpin and Luca Orlandi spun at Paddock Hill Bend, which allowed Howard Fuller to get the better of Mark Powell as a gaggle of cars tried to swerve past the stranded Italian. There was also disappointment for Maxime Jousse who had made up two places at the start, but whilst running in fifth he ran wide and made contact with the barriers on the run out of Sheene Curve. The Frenchman tried to continue but his damaged car immediately went off at the next corner - Maxime will be hoping for better things at Silverstone.

Formula Palmer Audi Championship, race two, results:

1. Kazim Vasiliauskas, 16 laps
2. Richard Plant, +0.338s
3. Adam Foster, +3.333s
4. Josef Newgarden, +8.656s
5. Tristan Vautier, +21.492s
6. Kenny Andrews, +22.037s
7. Paul Rees, +22.302s
8. Jose Alonso, +22.568s
9. Ashley Babbra, +27.052s
10. Philipp Frommenwiler, +28.327s