Further up the field, Ammermuller - racing with a wrist injured in race one - ran wide on lap 15, allowing Mike Conway, up from 24th on the grid, to snatch fifth, but quickly latching onto the rear of the Super Nova car to join a three-way battle for fourth with Garcia, who did his best to encourage his pursuers by taking more tarmac than necessary on lap 17. When Conway took a look at passing the Spaniard, Ammermuller tried to capitalise, but the battle did little but to give the rapid Nakajima a chance to close in.
With the final point at stake, the Japanese driver then harried Ammermuller for sixth, eventually passing the ailing German on the final lap to make it two DAMS cars in the top six.
At the opposite end of the points, Lapierre continued untroubled by Glock, who he kept at a gap of 1.6secs for much of the race. Glock similarly had Filippi under control, ensuring that the top three ran unchanged to the flag.
"I still had a problem with my steering today, and I had to go offline and I picked up a 2cm cut in a rear tyre, but we made it to P2 with an exciting race and some good manoeuvres," Glock reported, "It’s been a good start."
Filippi's third place left the delighted Italian with an early lead in the championship standings, with Glock, who also took the day’s fastest lap, just two points.
"It was a great weekend, but I don’t think anyone in the paddock expected this for me," the Super Nova pilot commented, "It was very important, because our pace was consistent with the first two in this race. I am very happy."
Lapierre's delight at finally taking top spot on the podium was obvious, the move to A1GP partner DAMS having paid off after two years at Arden. With the former F3000 champion having also discovered winning ways, the obvious question is whether the floodgates will now open for both.....
"It was a difficult race, but we stayed in the front and I’m really happy for the team," Lapierre concluded, "We had pretty good pace, and now we have to go ahead for the future, to do a good qualifying and win a Saturday race."
