Paffett wins China exhibition

The original plan was to have two races lasting 30 minutes each, but a manhole cover came unstuck in the start phase in the first race. Mercedes' Bernd Maylander was unable to steer clear of a collision and rammed into the obstacle. The manhole covers were welded firm for safety reasons but because of the length of time it took the first race had to be cancelled.

The disruption didn't seem to affect Paffett though, who led from start to finish in the second race. The Briton eked out a lead at the start of the race courtesy of contact between the pursuing Audis of Tom Kristensen, Emanuele Pirro and Martin Tomczyk, who were all forced out of the race.

Schneider avoided the trouble and took after his younger team-mate. While he pushed the Briton hard towards the end of the race, he was unable to get passed and had to settle for second spot.

"It was an incredibly tough race," Paffett said. "I had a pretty comfortable advantage after the accident behind me in the first bend. I didn't accelerate too much as the temperature of my engine was very high. Later, when Bernd got closer, I had to give my all in order to stay in front."

"I would never have expected a second place after such a qualifying," Schneider added. "I had a great start today and a fantastic race. I was lucky that I didn't touch the wall once this whole weekend, which means we can now prepare for the race on the Nurburgring without any hindrance."

Starting ninth on the grid, Ekstrom had his work cut out to make it into the top three, but he battled his way forward dispensing first of Jean Alesi then Rinaldo Capello to take the final podium position.

"The race here in Shanghai was great fun," he said. "I started out in ninth position and already made it into fifth after the first lap following those accidents in front of me. I then overtook Capello and Alesi and drove home into third place.

"It's a great result to have started in ninth position and to end up on the podium, especially here in Shanghai."

Alesi and Capello settled for fourth and fifth respectively while Christijan Albers took sixth spot from Opel's Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the later stages. It is Frentzen's highest placing of the season, but the German was lucky to finish after nearly hitting the safety barriers.

Mercedes' Jarek Janis rounded out the top eight.

Gary Paffett Mercedes 27m23.509s
Bernd Schneider Mercedes +0.887s
Mattias Ekstrom Audi +13.228s
Jean Alesi Mercedes +15.583s
Rinaldo Capello Audi +32.756s
Christijan Albers Mercedes +33.218s
Heinz-Harald Frentzen Opel +33.934s
Jarek Janis Mercedes +35.882s