An early start to the day for the F3 competitors would be followed by a long, long wait for the second race late in the afternoon. Energy levels were high nonetheless, particularly towards the front of the grid. Maro Engel (Carlin Motorsport), sitting on pole, didn't make what he considered a great start, but in comparison with Stephen Jelley's (Raikkonen Robertson Racing) it was positively brilliant. Jelley lost out at the start, and had to tuck in behind Engel, while Marko Asmer (Hitech Racing) shot past several people to nip into 3rd. It all proved somewhat academic when Sebastian Hohenthal (Fortec Motorsport) spun out in the middle of the pack. He was assisted by Atte Mustonen (Raikkonen Robertson Racing) slamming the door on him hard pretty much as he did to Engel in Bucharest and with much the same result - they were both out of the race before it really got started. As everyone took avoiding action, the front-runners started to streak away, Asmer all over Jelley with Sam Bird (Carlin Motorsport) joining in enthusiastically.
In the National Class, "Frankie" Cheng (Performance Racing) was leading the class, having passed Sergio Perez (T-Sport) into the first chicane, a move that was similar to the one Bird pulled on Asmer to claim 3rd. With Jelley following grimly, Engel needed to break the tow if he didn't want the Englishman to slipstream past him. He was pushing as hard as he dared while he waited for his tyres to come back to their optimum temperature. A long wait on the grid had left most of the drivers with the same problem, so now it was up to everyone to manage the situation as best they could. Cheng promptly lost out to Perez for that very reason, and that compounded with a mistake meant the Mexican was free and clear in the class lead early on.
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