staying with Sato if possible as Cochet lost the duel and fell to sixth. Priaulx picked up a puncture and entered the pit lane for new tyres to go several laps down. Sato drew clear from the rest of the field and led Wirdheim by one second. In the meantime, Monteiro and Toccacelo collided, causing the latter to retire and the former to drive slowly back to the pit lane for a replacement front wing. Elsewhere, Taylor went from nineteenth to eighth by the conclusion of the third lap while Kovalainen gained 13 positions to run in tenth by the same time. Montin overtook Tréluyer for third but Tréluyer stayed close behind him. Similarly, Sato could not pull away from Wirdheim who set a new fastest lap to close up to him. The safety car was deployed on lap four when Cochet spun at the Reservoir bend and hit the tyre wall. Fukuda collected him and sustained heavy damage to his car's left-hand side. Although Fukuda exited his car without external aid, he sustained a concussion and was transported by ambulance to the local hospital. Four laps later, the safety car was withdrawn and the field was released back to racing speeds. However, it was immediately deployed for a second time when Taylor pushed too hard on cold tyres and lost control of his car at the Reservoir bend. He collided with the wall and removed a wheel which Hackett struck. Racing resumed on the ninth lap as the safety car was withdrawn. The race turned into a procession as all drivers sought to avoid an unpleasant situation. Sato was unchallenged in the final six laps to win the first leg and start the second from pole position. Wirdheim was 1.490 seconds behind in second and Montin completed the podium in third. Off the podium, Tréluyer gained on Montin but then settled for fourth. Matsuura finished fifth and Bobbi sixth. Ide finished seventh, Kovalainen eighth, Ho was the highest-placed Macanese driver in ninth and Hackett tenth. Outside the top ten, Lei finished 11th, having gained 18 positions from where he started. The trio of Merszei, Monteiro and Gommendy were the final classified finishers and Sato lapped the latter two twice. Leg 2 The second leg started later that day in hot and sunny weather at 15:40 local time. Taylor, Cochet, Fukuda, Sundberg, Giammaria and Yamamoto could not start because their