Lap 1: pole position starter – and championship leader – Vitantonio Liuzzi (Arden International) makes a clean start to lead Enrico Toccacelo (BCN), José Maria Lopez (CMS Performance), Jeffrey van Hooydonk (Coloni), Robert Doornbos (Arden International), Patrick Friesacher (Super Nova) and Raffaele Giammaria (AEZ). Less cleanly, Tomas Enge (Ma-con) and Esteban Guerrieri (BCN) tangle at the Grand Hotel hairpin while disputing eighth place. Enge heads to the pits to collect a new front wing before rejoining a lap in arrears; Guerrieri remains stranded on the circuit.

Lap 2: up to 12th after starting last, Can Artam (Coloni) crashes at Massenet. The Safety Car is deployed.

Lap 4: race restarts.

Lap 5: Liuzzi leads by 0.8 seconds. The top three are pulling clear of van Hooydonk.

Lap 9: tail-ender Enge makes his compulsory tyre stop and rejoins just behind the top three.

Lap 11: Lopez’s 1m 27.918s is the fastest lap of the race so far.

Lap 12: Mathew Lauda (CMS, 11th), Yannick Schroeder (Durango, 12th) and Tony Schmidt (Ma-con, 15th) make mandatory tyres stops.

Lap 13: Toccacelo laps in 1m 27.854s. Jan Heylen (Astromega, 10th) pits for tyres.

Lap 14: Liuzzi posts a 1m 27.852s; Toccacelo fares better still – 1m 27.420s. He’s still one second adrift, mind. The top two are gently dropping Lopez.

Lap 15: seventh-placed Giammaria comes in for fresh Avons.

Lap 17: eighth-placed Rodrigo Ribeiro (Durango) bodges the chicane but doesn’t lose any places.

Lap 18: Ribeiro makes his tyre stop, as does Fernando Monfardini (AEZ, 12th).

Lap 19: Lauda crashes out of 12th place at Ste Devote.

Lap 20: van Hooydonk (fourth) is first of the leaders to pit.

Lap 21: Alan van der Merwe (Super Nova, sixth) pits.

Lap 22: Liuzzi and Toccacelo lose time lapping Ribeiro and Schmidt. Lopez and Nico Verdonck (Astromega, up to sixth because of his rivals’ pit visits) come in for tyres.

Lap 24: Liuzzi all but clips the barrier at the Virage Anthony Noghès. Toccacelo pits.

Lap 25: Liuzzi pits – and rejoins six seconds ahead of Toccacelo. Doornbos (who hasn’t pitted) leads from Friesacher (who stops at the end of the lap).

Lap 26: Doornbos stops on schedule. Liuzzi resumes his place at the head of the field. Tyre stops over, he heads Toccacelo, Lopez, Giammaria, Doornbos, Friesacher, van Hooydonk, Heylen, van der Merwe and Schroeder.

Lap 28: Friesacher passes Doornbos (in the tunnel, as you do) to take fifth. Toccacelo sets a new fastest lap in 1m 27.144s.

Lap 30: Schroeder runs wide at Rascasse but doesn’t anything and rejoins without losing a place.

Lap 31: Shortly after clattering over the swimming pool chicane kerbs, Ribeiro pits and retires with a wrist injury.

Lap 33: Friesacher laps in 1m 26.938s – the first driver to crack the 1m 27s barrier.

Lap 40: The flying Friesacher closes to within 0.4s of Giammaria.

Lap 43: Enge reduces the fastest lap to 1m 26.911s.

Lap 45: Liuzzi wins by 2.8 seconds from Toccacelo, Lopez, Giammaria, Friesacher, Doornbos, van Hooydonk and Heylen. Liuzzi remains unbeaten this season but leads Toccacelo by only six points in the provisional points table.