Another steamy afternoon on an abrasive track not known for its overtaking opportunities began – perhaps inevitably under these circumstances – with multiple cars in the gravel trap in the first sequence of corners.
Two separate incidents at the 'Omega' right-hander meant an early red flag and a handful of cars – including the likes of BMW racer Sheldon van der Linde and Mercedes man Maro Engel - would be unable to take the restart.
With the field having crossed a timing beam before the red flag was thrown, the race resumed behind the safety car in the same order that had been established during the brief first attempt: Bortolotti, Luca Stolz and Jack Aitken, whose attempt to grab the lead around the outside of the first corner had cost the Ferrari driver a place at the initial start.
Bortolotti was in charge from the restart all the way to the flag. Though his chasers kept him in sight for most of the day, he stretched his lead out to around three seconds just before ducking into the pits one lap after the window opened.
A smooth stop by his SSR Performance team enabled him to emerge comfortably ahead of his rivals, all of whom also stopped early in the window.
The Italian did have a mid-race scare when he noticed his oil pressure dropping. His team was at a loss to explain it, and told him to race on as best he could.
His lead dropped to under a second at around three-quarter distance, but Bortolotti was able to extend it to more than a second once again and manage the gap to the end.
Saturday winner Stolz, whose Team HRT Mercedes was saddled with 20kg of success ballast for this race, led the chasing pack throughout the afternoon.
Source: Autosport