Jules Bianchi took his ninth win of the season in dominant style, beating ART team-mate Valtteri Bottas by over 7 seconds, and in turn sealing the team’s championship for ART.
All Bianchi had to do was defend at the first turn and pull away from there, but it didn’t quite go to plan. He had too much wheelspin and had his team-mate alongside him, but just managed to edge him out, and was helped later in the lap by Bottas fighting with Roberto Mehri.
“It wasn't an easy race,” said Bianchi. “My start was not so good, but I was able to take first place. Then I tried to pull a gap over the drivers behind me. Initially, I could also benefit from the battle between Valtteri and Roberto.”
Despite battling with Bottas for 2nd early on, Mehri would drop down to 4th by the end of the race, after being passed by the fast-starting Jean Karl Vernay later in the race.
“Finally, I am back on the podium!” he exclaimed. “At the start, I managed to gain two places right away. It wasn't easy against Roberto, but I was able to overtake him.”
Alex Sims looked set for 5th during most of the race, but on the last lap he was passed by Mika Maki after being tracked down by the Finn for several laps. This meant Bottas also took the Rookie Cup, a double delight for ART.
Series debutant Victor Garcia had qualified 9th, but slowly filtered down the pack to 8th place, which would have given him pole for the next race. However, it was not to be, being passed by Henkie Waldschmidt near the end.
Race One Results
1. Jules Bianchi ART Grand Prix Dallara-Mercedes 28mins 36.645secs
2. Valtteri Bottas* ART Grand Prix Dallara-Mercedes +7.516secs
3. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature Dallara-Volkswagen +10.039secs
4. Roberto Mehri Manor Dallara-Mercedes +11.471secs
5. Mika Maki Signature Dallara-Volkswagen +20.334secs
6. Alex Sims* Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +21.289secs
7. Marco Wittmann* Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +21.904secs
8. Henkie Waldschmidt SG Formula Dallara-Mercedes +25.082secs
9. Victor Garcia Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +28.505secs
10. Stefano Coletti Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes +33.146secs
11. Esteban Gutierrez ART Grand Prix Dallara-Mercedes +34.434secs
12. Basil Shaaban Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes +36.714secs
13. Andres Caldarelli* SG Formula Dallara-Mercedes +37.338secs
14. Adrien Tambay* ART Grand Prix Dallara-Mercedes +45.872secs
15. Tom Dilmann HBR Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes +47.327secs
16. Nico Moninen Mucke Dallara-Mercedes +49.955secs
17. Mirko Bortolotti Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +55.114secs
18. Johan Jokinen* Kolles & Heinz Dallara-Volkswagen +55.604secs
19. Christopher Zanella* Motopark Academy Dallara-Mercedes +1 lap
Not Classified
20. Renger van der Zande Motopark Academy Dallara-Mercedes 9 laps
21. Pedro Enrique Manor Dallara-Mercedes 3 laps
22. Tiago Geronimi* Signature Dallara-Volkswagen 1 lap
23. Edoardo Mortara Kolles & Heinz Dallara-Volkswagen 0 laps
24. Jake Rosenweig* Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 0 laps
*Denotes Rookie
