Felipe Nasr picked his way through the perils of a fraught opening round of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series to secure a hard-earned victory at Monza this afternoon.

The Brazilian, who started from sixth on the grid, led home his team-mates Jazeman Jaafar and Carlos Huertas to make it a 1-2-3 for Carlin. There were incidents throughout the race, several accidents, and even a pre-race drama for seven cars which failed to make it out of the pits and on to the grid before the deadline. But through it all Nasr serenely sailed.

There was a sole finisher in the Rookie class, T-Sport's Dutch driver Bart Hylkema, who lost four laps in the pits after a clash with his class rival Kotaro Sakurai. For Will Buller - although he salvaged fourth place with a gutsy drive - it was an afternoon of disappointment. For having done a superb job in qualifying to bag pole position for this race, as well as for tomorrow's third round, the Ulsterman's Fortec car was one of the seven which didn't make the grid in time.

So it was that Carlin's Kevin Magnussen and Jazeman Jaafar were the men disputing top spot on the opening lap, Jaafar having made a very rapid getaway from fifth on the grid to lead the Dane over the line at the end of lap one. Unfortunately it was behind the safety car - the first of three race appearances for it - after a startline shunt between Pipo Derani and Jack Harvey left trackside debris.

Magnussen got the drop on his Malaysian colleague at the restart on lap three, but was unable to capitalize because of the reappearance of the safety car following the Hylkema/Sakurai incident, which saw the Japanese driver hit the rear of the Dutchman and fly off the track. Hylkema limped to the pits while a shaken Sakurai was taken to the circuit medical centre for precautionary checks. Three laps passed under the safety car, and at the restart Lucas Foresti clawed his way past Jaafar to take up position on Magnussen's tail.

The gap between Kevin and Lucas yo-yoed until yet another safety car interlude, this time to sort the mess after Fantin and Pye made contact, bunched them up for the 12th-lap restart. It was the decisive lap of the race for, as Magnussen and Foresti disputed the lead into the second chicane, they tangled and a lurking Nasr, who had methodically been creeping up the order, pounced for the lead.

"I think Magnussen and Foresti were trying too hard to win the race," said Felipe. "They lost so much time trying to fight each other I was able to catch them a little bit every lap. And then they crashed and I had my opportunity. After that it was just a question of not making a mistake because the track was getting a bit dirty. The car was great and I must congratulate the team."

Nasr will start the second round from sixth again. Jaafar had headed Huertas throughout the race and, like Nasr, was promoted two places by the Magnussen/Foresti incident. He was pleased with his afternoon's work, which equalled his best British F3 result. "It was hard and I didn't quite have Felipe's speed, but I think I showed my pace and maybe I can improve tomorrow."

Buller's drive back to the front from his pit lane start was a rousing affair. Ninth after the second of the two safety car interludes, he took no prisoners on his charge through the pack, and passed both Rupert Svendsen-Cook and Riki Christodoulou on the penultimate lap to secure fourth and the honour of being leading Mercedes finisher. RSC and Christo finished fifth and sixth in line astern, with Hywel Lloyd an excellent seventh on his debut with the Sino Vision Racing team. Last year's National champ, Menasheh Idafar, was eighth for T-Sport, ahead of Foresti and Spanish championship debutant Bruno Mendez. Magnussen got going again after a pit visit to finish 15th. Hylkema was delighted by his Rookie win: "I was defending into the second chicane and I got hit in the back, and then hit again, and the car came over me. There was a lot of damage, and a puncture, but I was able to get it back to the pits and the team did an amazing job to get me out again."

British Formula 3 enjoys the headlining support of Cooper Tires and is additionally backed by Sunoco Racing Fuels, Anglo American Oil Company and OAMPS.

Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series Round 1, Monza ITA 16/4/201114 laps / 50.394 miles

Provisional results Championship class

1 Felipe NASR / BRA, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 30m 56.691s

2 Jazeman JAAFAR / MAS, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +3.116s

3 Carlos HUERTAS / COL, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +3.166s

4 William BULLER /GBR, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +4.103s

5 Rupert SVENDSEN-COOK / GBR, Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen +5.140s

6 Riki CHRISTODOULOU / GBR, Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen +6.674s

7 Hywel LLOYD / GBR, Sino Vision Dallara-Mercedes +9.995s

8 Menasheh IDAFAR / GBR, T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen +10.018s

9 Lucas FORESTI / BRA, Fortec Dallara-Mercedes +10.137s

10 Bruno MENDEZ / ESP, Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen +11.324s etc

Provisional results Rookie class

1 Bart HYLKEMA / NED, T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda 10 laps

Fastest lap: Nasr 1m 46.532s / 121.66mph

Provisional championship standings

1 Nasr 21 points; 2 Jaafar 15; 3 Huertas 12; 4 Buller 10; 5 Svendsen-Cook 8; 6 Christodoulou 6 etc.Rookie class: 1 Hylkema 21. TV schedule: Channel 4: 0730 23 April;