Karun Chandhok has taken a stunning maiden GP2 Series win after prevailing in a thrilling tussle with Andy Soucek during the sไprint race at Spa-Fran🃏corchamps.

🌜Capping off a superb run of form that only saw him finish in the points for the first ti🦹me in Turkey, Chandhok made the most of his front row starting position to also return Durango Corse to the top spot for the first time in two seasons.

Indeed, if there were a🧔ny expectations that the top three of Ho-Pin Tung, Chandhok and Soucek off the grid would not be able to sustain the pace of those behind them then Chandhok's win, Soucek's second pla♛ce and Tung's fourth was a definite reminder that no driver should be underestimated.

From the off, Tung ruined his hopes of a surprise victory when he bogged down on the line and then locked🌼 up into La Source, allowing Chandhok and a fast starting Soucek through, the latter ⛎diving into the lead from third.

di Grassi also sneaked past into third place, with Javier Villa, Tung, Vitaly Petrov, Luca Filippi and Bruno Senna, up from the back of the field alread💃y, following closely. However, as there was in the first race, several drivers failed to get off the line well, most notably race one winner Nicolas Lapierre, who stalled, while Mike Conway also suffered a tardy getaway.

Even before that though there was drama after championship leader Timo Glock didn't even make the startline when he was collectꦿed by Ricardo Risatti on the warm-up lap, the Argentine losing control of his Trident Racing car on the grass and spearing into Glock, sending him into the barriers and causing terminal damage.

di Grassi's hopes of taking the ultimate advantage though were looking scuppered early on when he wasn't able to maintain the furious pace going on ahead, Soucek powering forward but being chased closely🤪 by Chandhok.

However, while he managed to get the gap up to a high of 1.5secs, Chandhok was beginning to r🧔eel his rival in as the race progressed and it was 🍷clear the fight was most certainly on for victory.

Perhaps spurred on by the potential win he lost in Turkey was he was rather ungracefully eliminated whilst leading, the Indian driver pulled off a marvellous move on Soucek ar🔴ound the ඣoutside of Les Combes after picking up his rival's tow.

Sweeping past on lap eleven, Chandhok was not worried to the chequered flag on lap 18 to come home a stಞunning winner and one thatꦯ marks the highlight of his racing career.

Although likely to be disappointed to miss out on victory, Soucek would probably have taken a sixth and a second place finish before this𓄧 weekend, the Spaniard breaking DPR's season points duck in style and finally proving his potential in GP2 Series racing.

Despite a concerted effort from Tung, who recoꦆrds BCN Competicion's best result of the season in fourth, di Grassi was an important third in light of Glock's failure to score anything more than the point he gained for fastest lap in the feature 𒉰race. As such, the duo head into the final round at Valencia just two points apart, setting up a mouth watering tussle in Spain.

Fifth was occupied by a recovering Conway, who managed to haul himself back into contention after passing team-mate Filippi, Vitaly Petrov and also ꦗVilla, the latter having received a꧑ drive-through penalty for jumping the start.

His team-mate Filippi's hopes of holding onto the final points position however were ruined when Ada🎃m Carroll, recovering from starting towards the back of the grid, managed to complete the job he attempted in the first race before spinning, by snaring the sixth and final point.

Fastest lap meanwhile went the way of ♛Lapierre, the Frenchman unable to recover from his stall but bolting on new tyres and gaining at least one points for his efforts.