Jousse slipped out of title contention, despite a decent run to fourth, while Esteban Guerrieri ensured a healthy haul of points for the Ultimate team in fifth.

Like his brother, Marco Barba was one of the big movers up the order as he dispatched of van der Garde and then Miguel Molina, securing his best result of the season with sixth in the process from 11th on the grid.

Molina held on for seventh, but will get his chance at glory from pole position tomorrow, with van der Garde eighth, a result that means he needs just three points from the second race to prevent the title fight going down to the wire in Spain. Even so, from 13th on the grid, the Dutchman still has his work cut out.

Mikhail Aleshin and Filip Albuquerque completed the top ten and the point scoring positions, the latter of which managing to score on his return to the championship for Epsilon Euskadi.

As for the Brits, Duncan Tappy was a solid 14th, although counterparts James Walker and Pippa Mann propped up the retirements' list.