Sam Bird took his second victory of an increasingly impressive debut season in race one at Spa-Francorchamps, but it was championship leader Marko Asmer who once again stole the show with a stirring fight up through the field from the back of the pack into sixth place.

The start of the race would prove crucial, as Bird – from third on the grid – dived to the right with two wheels brushing the concrete wall to snatch the lead from pole-sitter Stephen Jelley. The Double R pilot would reclaim his advantage on the run up the hill to Les Combes for the first time, while luckless fellow front row starter Maro Engel was already sliding down the order, hampered by a loss of sixth gear that would precipitate an early bath on lap three. This promoted Jonathan Kennard up to third and Rodolfo Gonzalez fourth, with Asmer having made up a staggering 15 places to run 14th. He would be up into the points by the start of lap four.

By that time Bird had already re-asserted his authority on proceedings, by diving up the inside of Jelley into La Source at the beginning of lap three, leaving the Leicester ace to face the pressure from an increasingly menacing Kennard in his rear view mirrors. As the Double R duo tussled and swapped places, their battling allowed Bird to make good his escape, and nine laps in the 20-year-old was a full 3.7 seconds to the good.

It was an advantage he would retain all the way to the chequered flag, with Kennard finding a way past his team-mate on the very last lap to clinch second place and his best result of the 2007 season so far, setting a new British F3 lap record along the way for good measure. Jelley held on to take third, a second further adrift, with fellow Double R star Atte Mustonen fourth, T-Sport's Rodolfo Gonzalez fifth and Asmer getting ahead of Carlin's Niall Breen for sixth and the six valuable championship points that accompany it on the final tour.

Esteban Guerrieri eventually wound up eighth for Ultimate Motorsport, after brake trouble blunted a charge that had at one point seen the Argentine run as high as sixth. Sergio Perez crossed the line ninth overall and first in the National Class for the sixth time in 2007, with Fortec Motorsport's Greg Mansell rounding out the top ten. Sergio Perez took second in the National Class, ahead of Hamad Al Fardan and Michael Meadows.

“Everyone knows I had a bit of a problem starting at Brands Hatch,” remarked Bird, delighted to have regained second position in the drivers' title chase from Engel following his dominant triumph. “I was keen to put that behind me and prove I could have a legitimate and very quick start! I had enough speed to pass Stephen into the second corner and I must thank him for not squeezing me into the wall. Stephen got a good tow on me and led the next couple of laps, but then I got a good tow on him and was able to pass.

“I thought we would pull away from the rest of the pack, but unfortunately for Stephen and I suppose fortunately for me he began to suffer from handling problems and I was able to break away. What can I say? It was just brilliant to take another victory. I'm starting the next race from third again so it would be amazing if I could do the same thing in race two, but I'm sure Stephen and Maro are going to want to get revenge.”

Asmer was also in buoyant spirits following his searing charge through the pack, and hopeful of not having to fight his way past quite so many rivals in race two.

“I got a good start and managed to get a couple of cars away from the line,” the Estonian explained, “then another through Eau Rouge. Then they all seemed to queue up going over the hill so I managed to pass a few more there; it's hard to remember who I passed where as there were so many!

“Sixth is a good result, but for the championship we still need to win races. I hope that after starting 29th and finishing sixth I can win race two from seventh on the grid, but it is a different race and we'll have to see. This was a good result after the start to the weekend we had. The car was good in the race and hopefully will be even better in race two.”