Mikhail Aleshin converted his maiden pole position into a first Formula 2 victory at Oschersleben on Sunday.
The Red Bull-backed Russian lost out to fellow front row starter Julien Jousse initially as Jousse took the inside line into the first corner. But Aleshin quickly regained the place at Turn 2 and championship leader Andy Soucek followed into second place.
The trio were joined by Robert Wickens, who moved up to fourth when Mirko Bortolotti made a poor start and tumbled down the order.
Aleshin didn't have the pace to get away from Soucek but he was quick enough not to offer up any opportunities to pass.
Wickens lost touch with the three ahead in the closing stages and fell back to Nicola de Marco and Tobias Hegewald. The top 10 was completed by Kazim Vasiliauskas, Edoardo Piscopo, Sebastian Hohenthal and Carlos Iaconelli, all of whom passed Alex Brundle during the race as the Briton dropped from sixth on the grid to 11th.
Philipp Eng had a huge accident on the first lap when he appeared to touch wheels with Jack Clarke before spinning off and flipping into a series of rolls. He was fortunate to climb out of the car uninjured.
Pos Driver Time/Gap 1. Mikhail Aleshin 24m50.757s 2. Andy Soucek +0.479 3. Julien Jousse +1.061 4. Robert Wickens +2.914 5. Nicola de Marco +3.642 6. Tobias Hegewald +4.427 7. Kazim Vasiliauskas +5.381 8. Edoardo Piscopo +13.290 9. Sebastian Hohenthal +15.193 10. Carlos Iaconelli +17.116 11. Alex Brundle +21.277 12. Natacha Gachnang +22.307 13. Armaan Ebrahim +23.396 14. Jens Hoing +31.229 15. Henri Karjalainen +31.860 16. German Sanchez +32.808 17. Tom Gladdis +33.227 18. Ollie Hancock +34.128 19. Jolyon Palmer +34.739 20. Jason Moore +35.142 21. Milos Pavlovic +41.805 22. Pietro Gandolfi +53.269 Retirements Mirko Bortolotti 15 laps Jack Clarke 0 laps Philipp Eng 0 laps