David Schumacher was the star of the first day of racing in MRF Challenge’s Bahrain round, taking pole and a win on his debut.
The German beat FIA Formula 3 Championship rival Bent Viscaal, also making his debut, to pole for the opening race.
Schumacher dropped to third on the opening lap, with Viscaal taking the lead ahead of Valdemar Eriksen, from sixth on the grid.
It took until lap six of nine before Schumacher was able to find a way past Eriksen for second, by which point Viscaal had assured himself of victory. Danish Formula 4 graduate Eriksen completed the podium.
Championship leader Michelangelo Amendola struggled in qualifying, and only improved to seventh in the race.
Single-seater rookie Reece Ushijima started on pole for the reversed grid race, but was quickly passed by Dylan Young.
The Australian looked set for his second MRF win, despite having Viscaal on his tail, until a stunning last lap enabled Schumacher to get past both.
Viscaal also managed to get through to take second place from Young, who was almost passed by Joshua Mason on the last lap.
Results round-up
Race 1 (9 laps)
1 Bent Viscaal 23m52.460s
2 David Schumacher +2.057s
3 Valdemar Eriksen +6.548s
4 Dylan Young +9.277s
5 Joshua Mason +9.944s
6 Reece Ushijima +10.675s
7 Michelangelo Amendola +12.128s
8 Largim Ali +13.134s
9 Manaf Hijjawi +13.753s
Ret Yuven Sundaramoorthy
Pole: Schumacher, 1m59.765s
Fastest lap: Viscaal, 2m00.349s
Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Schumacher 20m24.266s
2 Viscaal +1.702s
3 Young +1.728s
4 Mason +1.837s
5 Ushijima +2.234s
6 Eriksen +5.237s
7 Hijjawi +7.944s
8 Amendola +8.513s
9 Sundaramoorthy +12.267s
10 Ali +12.922s
FL: Schumacher, 2m00.732s
Championship standings
1 Amendola 129? ?2 Mason 99? ?3 Young 92? ?4 Eriksen 76? ?5 Ushijima 62? ?6 Hijjawi 57? ?7 Sundaramoorthy 51? ?8 Schumacher 47? ?9 Viscaal 45? ?10 Ali 33