From then on, Winkelhock was well on his way to his first victory of the season. No-one appeared keen to take risks that may compromise their chances for the second race later in the day and the top ten remained unchanged as a result, with the German heading la Rosa and Kubica across the line.
"My start was nothing special but, in the heat of the moment, I thought Tristan had simply got off to a flyer," Winkelhock admitted, "I only understood exactly what had happened when I saw he had picked up a drive-through penalty. From then on, my car just got better and better, and I got into a good rhythm which meant I was able open out a gap without taking too many risks."
For la Rosa, stepping onto the podium was something of a new experience.
"We had quite a few problems in free practice, as we couldn't seem to find the right set-up," he revealed, doubting that he would be in a position to finish high up the order, "We were quicker in the wet, and then we completely changed the settings for the dry and got exactly what we were looking for. I made the start of my life and then did everything to ensure that Robert stayed behind me."
Third place for Kubica, from seventh on the grid, was good for the championship, which he has led from race one of the season in Belgium.
"My start was good, as I made it past both Power and Toccacelo, and I though I was going to be able to attack Daniel during the race," the Pole admitted, "However, when I saw that Gommendy had picked up a penalty, I thought that, from a championship point of view, a podium spot would do just fine - so I didn't take any risks."
Behind the top three, Power added to his points tally with fourth place, heading home Salignon, Toccacelo, Zuber and Pilet. The only move of note within the top ten was Milos Pavlovic's ascension to ninth at Simon Pagenaud's expense.
