UNI-Viruosi's Luca Ghiotto fended off pressure from the newly-crowned FIA Formula 2 champion Nyck De Vries to win the shortened Russian Sprint Race.
The race was reduced to 15 laps after a lengthy red-flag period which came after Jack Aitken collided with pole-sitter Nikita Mazepin who in turn collected Nobuharu Matsushita at the Turn 2 run-off area.
Aitken was forced wide into the run-off area as he made his way around the bollard as dictated by race direction, whilst Mazepin had elected to shortcut it.
As Aitken rejoined the circuit, he collected the rear left of Mazepin's ART causing damage which sent the Russian driver into Matsushita and the pair hit the outside TecPro barrier of Turn 3 heavily.
All drivers involved were okay, however Matsushita was sent to a local hospital for precautionary checks.
Throughout the race, Ghiotto soaked up the pressure handed out by the Dutchman but was able to hold onto the win – his third of the 2019 season.
De Vries snatched second place from Callum Ilott as the race restarted. The pair went side-by-side around Turn 3 with the champion winning out the battle.
Ilott managed to keep pace with the leaders but couldn't get close enough to challenge and held on to secure the final place on the podium.
Nicholas Latifi finished fourth after DAMS team-mate Sergio Sette Camara was handed a five-second time penalty after cutting a corner and gaining an advantage.
Guanyu Zhou picked up sixth place with Camara eventually finishing in seventh after his penalty.
Trident's Giuliano Alesi collected the final point on offer in eighth place, the Frenchman managed to win out on the battle with Prema's Mick Schumacher on Lap 7.
Jordan finished ninth for MP Motorsport after getting by the returning Artem Markelov with the Russian rounding out the top 10.
Formula 2 will return to action for the final round of the championship on November 29 -December 1.
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