Emilien Denner of France has claimed his first single-seater racing win in only his fifth outing in the Castrol Toyota Racing Series.
The reverse top eight marble draw put Denner on pole position with Lirim Zendeli of Germany in second alongside him.
Having stormed from 14th to sixth in Race 1, Liam Lawson began Race 2 from third on the grid. Ido Cohen of Israel started in fourth.
It was an even start between Denner and Zendeli, but the inside line into Turn 1 meant Denner led the way.
There was drama further behind them as Henning Enqvist of Sweden went off into the gravel, failing to negotiate the first turn. His car was buried deep and as a result, the Safety Car was deployed.
After a lengthy recovery, the race got going again with Denner ahead of Zendeli, Cohen and Lawson.
Lawson put the pressure on Cohen from the outset. He went wide on Lap 7 and opened the door for Lawson to make his way through. Initially, nothing came of it, and in fact, he lost time on lap 10 when he locked up into Turn 1 with an attempted pass on the inside.
Further behind them, Franco Colapinto in fifth made a mistake. Igor Fraga tried to make the most of the moment but instead got hung out to dry.
Renault Sport Academy driver Caio Collet fell victim to Red Bull Junior Yuki Tsnoda on Lap 13 after a ding dong battle in the early stages of the race.
A lap later, and Lawson finally got through on Cohen for third place at Turn 1. He set about catching Zendeli and looked like to make a move, however, nothing could be done and he had to settle for third.
In the end, Denner did the job to claim his first single-seater win from Zendeli and Lawson.
“I was just focussing on my driving, trying to get the best out of myself, particularly on the last corner so they couldn’t get my slipstream,” Denner said.
“It gives a lot of self-belief. Karting gave me a lot of self-belief because I kept winning. Now here, it is all-new for me, so it is nice to win here.”
Cohen was fourth and Colapinto fifth after a late-race battle between him and Fraga. Tsunoda, Collet, Gregoire Saucy and Jose Blanco completed the top 10.
Race 3 of the weekend, the Spirit of a Nation Trophy, takes place at 3:50 pm local time.