Rossi and Král's former International Formula Master rival Fabio Leimer was unable to capitalise on his excellent third on the grid as his Ocean Racing Technology car stalled before the formation lap.

He got off the line slowly and DAMS driver Vietoris burst through from third to the lead at the start, Turvey falling back to fourth behind Král and Rossi into the first corner.

The safety car then gave Valsecchi a chance to catch up with the top three, the yellow being required after Will Bratt's Coloni machine had snapped into a high-speed spin at the end of the back straight and collected Leimer on its way to the barrier.

Turvey put a late move on Rossi to take fourth, with Cecotto hanging on to sixth ahead of Vietoris' team-mate Edoardo Piscopo and the delayed Filippi.

Jakes was forced wide at the first corner and could only finish 10th, the Super Nova driver having spent most of the race trying in vain to pass DPR's Michael Herck.