Buemi wins season-opener

The Swiss driver was never under any serious threat from behind, although he extended his lead marginally each lap rather than disappearing into the distance.

Nico Hulkenberg finished second for reigning champions ASM, after Franck Mailleux threw away the position two laps from the end with a 360-degree spin at turn one.

The Frenchman only dropped to third though, ahead of Renger van der Zande and Romain Grosjean.

Grosjean came all the way from 11th on the grid to make the top five thanks to a good opening lap, and an error from van der Zande at the hairpin in the closing stages nearly handed the Renault-backed driver fourth place.

James Jakes had a race to forget after qualifying on the front row. The British driver made a poor start and dropped to fifth at turn one, and by the end of the opening lap he was 13th after going off in the stadium section.

Yelmer Buurman will start from pole for race two after finishing eighth in the opening race for the second year running.

The Dutchman lost out in a battle for the place early in the race with Edoardo Mortara, but he regained it when Filip Salaquarda pitted after he was hit from behind by the Italian.

Formula Three rookie Jean Karl Vernay will share the front row with Buurman for the reverse grid race on Sunday, after the Frenchman slumped from fifth place in the second half of the race.

Pos  Driver            Team          Time
 1.  Sebastien Buemi   Mucke         39:47.412
 2.  N.Hulkenberg      ASM             + 3.935
 3.  Franck Mailleux   Manor           + 7.802
 4.  R.van der Zande   Prema          + 10.643
 5.  Romain Grosjean   ASM            + 11.137
 6.  Edoardo Mortara   Signature      + 19.014
 7.  Jean-Karl Vernay  Signature      + 19.640
 8.  Yelmer Buurman    Manor          + 22.996
 9.  Daniel Clos       Signature      + 23.949
10.  Kamui Kobayashi   ASM            + 24.577
11.  James Jakes       Manor          + 31.374
12.  H.Schlegelmilch   HS Technik     + 39.901
13.  Tim Sandtler      Jo Zeller      + 40.288
14.  Michael Herck     Leinders Jr    + 47.273
15.  Cyndie Allemann   Manor          + 48.276
16.  Michael Patrizi   Prema          + 49.718
17.  Sergei Afanasiev  HBR            + 56.329
18.  Marco Holzer      Holzer         + 57.655
19.  Basil Shaaban     HBR          + 1:04.739
20.  Filip Salaquarda  HBR          + 1:07.579
21.  Edoardo Piscopo   Mucke           + 1 Lap

Not classified:

     Yann Clairay      Signature
     Tom Dillmann      ASM