Buzaid takes maiden win at Spa

A heavy downpour delayed the start and reduced the race distance to 11 laps, but the rain was brief and most drivers opted for slick tyres.

Brazilian racer Buzaid powered into the lead from his maiden pole position, with points leader Daniel Ricciardo (Carlin) tucking into second.

A first-lap shunt at the Bus Stop, caused by Fortec's Victor Garcia, eliminated Stephane Richelmi and Rosenzweig, who became a mobile chicane with wet tyres on a dry first lap.

By the second lap, cars began struggling for grip and Buzaid nearly ceded to Ricciardo after a wild moment at Pouhon.

The Australian went on the attack on the run to Les Combes next time around and passed his rival briefly, but Buzaid used the tow to retake the lead with a gutsy move around the outside into the corner.

As the track became wetter, Buzaid drew away from his pursuers and claimed T-Sport's second win of the season quite comfortably.

"Because I scored no points yesterday I had to score 20 points today," said the winner. "I'd like to dedicate this win to Henry Surtees and his family."

Ricciardo looked less assured in the difficult conditions, but extended his championship lead with an unchallenged run to second.

Buzaid's team-mate Wayne Boyd held third early on, but fell back as the track became wetter. He pitted for wets just after mid-distance, but couldn't make up the lost time and finished well down.

Hitech's Renger van der Zande battled Fortec's Riki Christodoulou for third until the Briton crashed out of fourth at the start of lap seven.

Van der Zande's team-mate Walter Grubmuller worked his way up well from ninth on the grid to fifth in the early part of the race, which became fourth when Christodoulou retired. Grubmuller then vaulted his team-mate, who lost a substantial advantage on the penultimate lap, to claim the final podium spot.

Van der Zande came under threat from duelling Carlin pair Henry Arundel and Max Chilton on the final run to the Bus Stop. All three went in too hot and only Chilton made the corner. Van der Zande and Arundel scrabbled over the run-off to finish fourth and fifth, with Chilton rounding out the top six.

Double R pairing Carlos Huertas and Daisuke Nakajima recovered well from early dramas to finish seventh and eighth, ahead of Hywel Lloyd and Esteban Gutierrez (ART), who climbed into the top 10 from the back of the grid.

Pos  Driver                Team            Car    Time/Gap
 1.  Adriano Buzaid        T-Sport         D/V  27m34.731s
 2.  Daniel Ricciardo      Carlin          D/V  +   5.900s
 3.  Walter Grubmuller     Hitech          D/M  +  20.615s
 4.  Renger van der Zande  Hitech          D/M  +  22.247s
 5.  Henry Arundel         Carlin          D/V  +  22.519s
 6.  Max Chilton           Carlin          D/V  +  23.152s
 7.  Carlos Huertas        Double R        D/M  +  25.860s
 8.  Daisuke Nakajima      Double R        D/M  +  39.395s
 9.  Hywel Lloyd           CF              D/H  +  56.138s
10.  Esteban Gutierrez     ART             D/M  +  57.195s
11.  Gabriel Dias          Fortec          D/H  +1m00.543s
12.  Wayne Boyd            T-Sport         D/V  +1m01.657s
13.  Daniel McKenzie       Fortec          D/H  +1m27.520s
14.  Philip Major          Carlin          D/V  +1m51.431s
15.  Kevin Chen            Double R        D/M  +    1 Lap
16.  Victor Garcia         Fortec          D/M  +    1 Lap

Retirements:

     Jules Bianchi         ART             D/M  9 laps
     Riki Christodoulou    Fortec          D/M  7 laps
     Victor Correa         Litespeed       S/H  7 laps
     Jay Bridger           Litespeed       M/M  5 laps
     Valtteri Bottas       ART             D/M  1 laps
     Jake Rosenzweig       Carlin          D/V  0 laps
     Stephane Richelmi     Barazi Epsilon  D/M  0 laps