Sprint Race
It was a great start from fourth place for Kanato Le, who took the lead before getting up to Turn 1. Le settled into second ahead of Nael with Ernesto Rivera in fourth.
But the Safety Car was called upon following a collision at the front of the field. Jin Nakamura hit the rear of Xie heading into Turn 2 before going into the side of Maciej Gladysz.
Nakamura and Gladysz were out of the race, while Xie continued on to the pitlane with a right rear puncture, before coming back out at the back of the field.
Racing resumed on Lap 4 and Le led Nael away with Rivera in third ahead of Mattia Colnaghi, with Brando Badoer in fifth.
In the battle for sixth, after multiple laps of pressure, Ugo Ugochukwu made his way past Nicola Lacorte with the help of DRS into Turn 1.
On Lap 8, Ugochukwu was up to fifth with another move at the opening corner, this time on Brando Badoer.
There was a change for the lead on the next lap with Nael, having been within DRS range for several laps, making an impressive late move on Le at Turn 1.
On to Lap 11 and Le had managed to stay within DRS range of Nael, while Rivera had closed in on the top two.
It was bad news for Ugochukwu however, as he was given a five=second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage on the opening lap. At the same time, his pace was starting to fall off with Badoer right on his rear with DRS.
Lap 14 of 19 and Le had managed to stay within DRS range of Nael, while Rivera dropped back, leaving the top two to fight for the lead.
For Ugochukwu he was now two seconds behind Colnaghi, and Badoer dived to the inside of the Campos at Turn 1 to retake 5th.
Lacorte tried to follow him through but with the gap closing, the DAMS driver and Ugochukwu made slight contact, this allowed Taponen to make a move past the Italian for seventh.
The American driver was starting to fall through the field with Taponen now demoting him to P7 on Lap 17 at Turn 2, while Lacorte made his way past later in the lap.
Back at the front, Le was coming under pressure from Rivera for P2, but Nael was in a world of his own, winning by 2.7s to earn his second victory of the season. Le held off Rivera to take his first F3 podium.
Feature Race
It was a clean start from pole for Taponen keeping the lead ahead of Slater, while Mattia Colnaghi retained P3 despite pressure from Badoer.
Slater was keen to take the lead early on and looked to go the inside of Taponen at Turn 12. But the two made slight contact, leaving the Trident driver with front wing damage.
The Safety Car was called upon moments later with Maciej Glaysz and Gerrard Xie in the barrier at the exit of Turn 13. The DAMS Lucas Oil driver collided with Jin Nakamura which sent him into the ART Grand Prix rookie, with all three out of the race.
Taponen used the opportunity to come into the pitlane having suffered a right rear puncture, and with the other drivers following him in, he only dropped to P6.
The incident between Slater and Taponen was under investigation as the Brit led the field away at the restart on Lap 6.
But the Virtual Safety Car was signalled moments later with Salim Hanna having stopped on track at Turn 13.
With the AIX Racing car cleared from the track, racing resumed on Lap 7 and Colnaghi was under pressure from Badoer and Ugochukwu.
The Campos driver was showing great pace and went around the outside of both Badoer and Colnaghi at Turn 2 to get up to second with one of the moves of the season.
At the same time, the Stewards ruled that there was No Further Action for the incident between Taponen and Slater.
But the Briton had new problems with Ugochukwu right on his gearbox on Lap 12, and he went defensive into Turns 1 and 2 to keep his race lead.
The Virtual Safety Car was called upon on the next lap with Kanato Le having stopped at Turn 12.
Racing resumed on Lap 14 and Ugochukwu resumed his attack on Slater, but the top two were not alone, with Badoer, Colnaghi and Theophile Nael all right behind.
The Safety Car was out on the next lap following a three-car collision at Turn 1 between the AIX cars of Fernando Barichello and Yevan David, as well as Enzo Deligny.
Barichello was left on the side of the road with a broke rear left suspension, while David and Deligny continued on – although the Van Amersfoort Racing driver retired in the pitlane.
Slater led the field to green on Lap 18 of 24 as Nael and Taponen went wheel-to-wheel at Turn 1. The MP driver was not pleased, believing he had been run off the track by his Campos rival.
On Lap 19, the Briton extend his lead out front to 1.1s, breaking the DRS barrier to Ugochukwu. The American fought back on Lap 21 but was too far behind to make a move.
Ugochukwu was closer to his title rival on the penultimate lap, even looking up the inside at Turn 9, but once again Slater held on.
On to the final lap and Ugochukwu once again had DRS but was still not close enough to Slater to make a move.
The British driver had done enough and took his first ever victory in FIA Formula 3 and with that the championship lead going into the summer break.
Jordan's Track Talk 
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