David Beckmann stole GP3 Series victory from Joey Mawson in the dying stages of the Sprint Race at Sochi.
The Trident made a play for the lead into Turn 13 before the chequered relegating Mawson to second.
Richard Verschoor of MP Motorsport was close behind to secure his first GP3 podium.
At the start Mawson made a perfect start from reverse grid pole to sweep across the path of fellow front-row starter Jake Hughes.
Simo Laaksonen slipped into second place at Turn 2 as the British driver fell back through the order with Beckmann and Verschoor passing him.
Laaksonen had taken evasive action at the second corner using the run-off but on the following lap Beckmann and Verschoor blitzed past.
Things went from bad to worse for the Finn who was then tapped into a spin by Anthoine Hubert.
Struggling through the next set of corners, Hubert was vulnerable to team-mate Nikita Mazepin who sailed past the following lap with DRS.
Out front Mawson continued to lead, but Beckmann was making inroads into the Australia’s advantage to bring himself within the DRS range.
Further down the field Juan Manuel Correa and Gabriel Aubry were embroiled in a duel, with Correa coming out on top into Turn 13.
Mawson coming under heavy pressure from Beckmann but displayed his uncompromising defensive skills to keep the German behind.
Despite two laps of using his DRS allocation, Beckmann was unable to find a way through.
Verschoor kept the duo honest along with the chasing Mazepin.
In the closing five laps the field began to push harder, although Beckmann struggled to return to a within a second of Mawson.
Hubert had found an edge over Mazepin and began to catch up to the Russian with three laps to go.
Under pressure, the home favourite locked up at Turn 13 and caught the wall attempting to return to the track and bringing out a virtual safety car.
Once the ART Grand Prix machine was removed racing resumed on the final lap – where Beckmann had caught the rear Mawson.
Beckmann’s pace advantage was clear and continued to hound the Arden International driver until the final corners – diving past with DRS into Turn 13.
Verschoor tried to follow through but Mawson held on for second.
Hubert claimed fourth following Mazepin’s retirement as Correa took fifth.
Gabriel Aubry managed his best finish of the season with sixth and Tatiana Calderon ended seventh.
Race 1 winner Leonardo Pulcini who completed the scorers.
With 199 points, Hubert has an 32 point advantage over Mazepin. Callum Ilott drops out of contention a further 20 points from Mazepin.
ART clinched the Teams’ Championship yesterday as Trident are 161 behind with Campos Racing in third.
The GP3 Series returns to action on 23-25 November for the season finale at Yas Marina.
2018 GP3 Series Results: Sochi – Sprint Race
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