Racing Engineering's hitherto traumatic weekend ended in joy as Javier Villa claimed his first victory in the series by holding his nerve in a tricky sprint race at Magny-Cours.
The Spaniard looked set for a podium finish after slotting in behind polesitter Nicolas Lapierre at the start but, when the circuit 'expert' slid off under braking at Adelaide on lap 17, the youngster was left out front, with Luca Filippi and race one winner Giorgio Pantano applying the pressure.
The morning was not as incident-filled as Saturday's feature, but began in dramatic fashion when several drivers, including the luckless Andi Zuber and Michael Ammermuller, spun on their way to the grid, caught out by the greasy surface left by overnight rain in central France.
The conditions did not pose the expected problems at the start, however, with Lapierre making a good getaway and the field slotting in behind through the opening corners without incident. The action started at Adelaide, with the two Arden cars of Bruno Senna and Adrian Zaugg making contact - the third incident of 'blue-on-blue' contact this weekend - as the Brazilian made an optimistic bid for third. Zaugg was pitched up on two wheels and, despite continuing for another lap, eventually retired.
Senna inherited the final podium spot, but was to throw it away just over a lap later when he ran wide at the Imola chicane, dropping to eighth as a result. With Filippi passing Pantano at Adelaide shortly before the Brazilian's excursion and Jason Tahinci being spun at the hairpin by Roldan Rodriguez, the order was already receiving a shake-up, although the order at the front remained static, with Lapierre heading Villa by an increasingly comfortable margin.
