Honda protege Nobuharu Matsushita stormed to his maiden GP2 victory from pole position ahead of ART Grand Prix team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne at the Hungaroring.

Matsushita got a perfect start, leaving the rest of the field behind by Turn 1.

McLaren junior and championship leader Vandoorne had an equally impressive getaway from fourth on the grid to take second.

The two ART drivers disappeared up the road in the early stages and it looked like it was going to be a two horse race before Rapax driver Sergey Sirotkin, who started sixth, put Vandoorne under pressure.

He couldn’t find a way past though, despite numerous attempts at Turn 1 with DRS, and had to settle for third, taking his second podium finish of the weekend.

Matsuhita enjoyed a comfortable race out front and was never really challenged for the win.

He controlled the gap to his team-mate and managed his tyres to ensure he took his first win in GP2.

Raffaele Marciello finished a long way off the podium finishers in fourth, having fallen back from a front row grid position at the start.

He was in the fight with Vandoorne and Sirotkin in the early stages but gradually fell back into the clutches of Rio Haryanto.

Norman Nato crossed the line in sixth to complete a climb from 11th on the grid.

The Frenchman had a good start but still had to complete some bold overtakes, most notably on Robert Visoiu, who finished seventh, and feature race winner Alex Lynn who finished behind his DAMS team-mate Pierre Gasly in ninth.

Arthur Pic completed the top 10 from 13th on the grid. The Frenchman passed Sergio Canamasas, who had a spirited drive from last on the grid to finish 16th, at the midway stage of the race for 11th before breezing past Jordan King who was struggling to manage his tyres.

Alexander Rossi had similar issues to his Racing Engineering team-mate and was forced to pit in the closing stages for new tyres, leaving him down in 19th.

RESULT

Matsushita wins on another tough day for Kiwi GP2 drivers