Paul Ricard Formula V8 3.5: Orudzhev denies Nissany in thriller

Nissany mounted a late charge but after a fierce fight with Orudzhev was forced to settle for second, ahead of his Charouz-run Lotus team-mate Rene Binder.

"That was quite a challenge," said Orudzhev, who grabbed the lead from third on the grid with a superb start.

"The team has never raced here in such hot conditions.

"I was too careful to look after my tyres in the early laps, and that is why Matthieu Vaxiviere passed me.

"Then, I think he had a problem, and Roy and I could overtake."

Orudzhev suffered several dramatic moments; including cutting a chicane in pursuit of Vaxiviere, hitting a bollard after running wide at Verriere on lap 15 and a wheel-banging moment with Nissany.

"I made a big mistake running wide and hitting a bollard towards the end," the Russian admitted.

"Afterwards the car felt a bit weird, but it feels really good to have stayed ahead of Roy."

In a tense climax to the race, Orudzhev and Nissany went Michelin-to-Michelin into the final corner, Virage du Pont, over the final two laps.

Nissany was first tempted into making a lunge on the inside when Orudzhev suffered a brake lock-up, but it resulted in contact and Nissany was sent sideways after tagging Orudzhev's rear.

Next time around, Nissany appeared to surprise Orudzhev by trying the outside.

An overlap and a superior exit onto the pit straight was obtained, but despite weaving and jinking across the circuit Nissany had to settle for second, 0.541 seconds in arrears at the chequered flag.

"That was a really hard race," said Nissany, who suffered a poor getaway after his car went into anti-stall.

"At the end, I tried first to overtake [Egor] on the inside and we even had some contact. The car went into oversteer but I managed to save it.

"Then on the next lap I went to his outside and that was also really spectacular!"

Championship leader Tom Dillmann claimed fourth on a weekend in which he perhaps appeared less sharp than earlier in the year.

Pole winner and early leader Vaxiviere finished a distant fifth after reporting tyre management problems, and held off Fortec's Louis Deletraz by just a tenth.

Vaxiviere had seemed set for victory after passing fellow SMP-sponsored runner Orudzhev at Signes on lap two and extending a 1.3s lead.

But at half-distance Vaxiviere was passed by Orudzhev at the chicane on the Mistral straight, and thereafter descended down the order.

Deletraz spent much of the race held up behind Teo Martin Motorsport racer Yu Kanamaru, before stealing sixth shortly before the finish.

Renault Sport Academy driver Deletraz's team-mate Pietro Fittipaldi retired after being punted into the air by RP Motorsport's Vitor Baptista.

The incident allowed Aurelien Panis to gain two spots on his charge up to eighth from a pitlane start.

RESULTS - 22 LAPS: