McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu topped an anti-climactic Macau Grand Prix qualifying race that finished behind the safety car amid heavy rain.
Polesitter Ugochukwu initially faced a threat from fellow front-row starter Oliver Goethe but was able to keep the Red Bull Junior at bay.
The race was then neutralised for the first time after just the second corner - which followed 12 red flags across the two Formula Regional World Cup qualifying sessions - when Sota Ogawa and Tuukka Taponen had identical crashes at Mandarin.
Watch: Sota Ogawa and Tuukka Taponen hit the wall hard at turn 2
Each driver carried slightly too much speed into the corner and ran wide into the barriers, Ogawa's TGM car spearing across the track and the remainder of the field did well to avoid it.
Ugochukwu did not face the same threat upon the restart on the fourth lap as Goethe was caught napping, which enabled the R-ace GP driver to build a lead of a second.
But Goethe then quickly set about closing the gap and was around half a second behind on the following tour.
Further back, Noel Leon had maintained his third place from the starting grid, while Freddie Slater was able to climb up to fourth, passing Enzo Deligny on the fifth lap despite running deep at Lisboa.
Several others took to the Lisboa escape road shortly after, but Mattia Colnaghi's MP car was unable to get going and the safety car therefore reappeared.
This coincided with the threatening black clouds, which had been growing since before the start of the race, deciding to begin dropping their contents.
Rather than risk a resumption with drivers negotiating the track on slick tyres, a red flag was shown to force the entire field to pit and change for wets.
Just three laps remained at this stage and the race resumed 10 minutes later with the safety car leading Ugochukwu around.
While the rain was heavy at Lisboa, making the Guia circuit's prime overtaking spot very treacherous, the rest of the track was almost bone dry.
The safety car continued to circulate for the remaining three laps, leaving a disappointing finish and meaning MP Motorsport driver Goethe was denied the chance to challenge Ugochukwu once more.
Leon (KCMG by Pinnacle Motorsport) completed the podium, with Slater (Prema) fourth from Deligny (R-ace GP) and Cooper Webster completing the top six for Evans GP, having sent Theophile Nael down the Lisboa escape road on the last proper racing lap.
