New Zealand driver Chris van der Drift was starting from 10th after a lacklustre performance in yesterday afternoon's qualifying.
When the flag dropped, the 19-car field hit the difficult first turn cleanly, with Adam Carroll first into the corner chased hard by Neel Jani and Portuguese driver Felipe Albuquerque. Dutch driver Robert Doorbos failed to get a good launch and dropped several places.
Chris van der Drift had a less than ideal start, having a problem with the car's anti-stall system and dropping two places before running off, meaning he ended the first lap in the pits for a puncture repair.
Lebanese Daniel Moran's racecar also sustained damage in the incident and was forced to retire.
USA driver Marco Andretti, who made an aggressive start to the race, lost three places to 12th, after being passed by India, Monaco and Great Britain.
By lap five, Carroll had been unable to open up a gap to second place, with Jani, Alberquerque and Martin within a second behind.
New Zealand was faced with a massive fight as van der Drift battled through traffic to regain the lap he lost with the earlier incident.
The front order hadn't changed drastically by time the pit window opened on lap eight for the first of two compulsory stops.
Carroll and Martin were both into the pits early, putting Switzerland, Portugal and the Netherlands' Robert Doorbos into the front.
A clash between Monaco and Brazil saw a bit of luck for New Zealand as Clivio Piccione returned to the pits, rejoining after repairs in last place.
Swiss driver Neel Jani then struggled to exit the pits quickly, losing enough time to let Portugal try and build a lead, driver Albuquerque setting the fastest lap.
Adam Carroll wasn't resting on his laurels though, chasing hard and getting back to first place as the race order corrected itself.
Twelve laps in, Portugal elected to stop but couldn't push into second spot, exiting in third place. Ireland was opening up a solid three-second-plus gap back to third place Switzerland.
Andretti managed to fight back to ninth place after USA's earlier incident, with Great Britain's Dan Clark spinning out while giving chase.
The lead didn't alter until after the second pit window opened, when a disastrous pit lane exit saw Adam Carroll drop a place to Neel Jani. Albuquerque held third, followed from John Martin.
With 13 laps to go, Piccione spun and beached the Monaco car on the outside of turn 11, bringing the safety car out for the first time.
The Irish team celebrated as the field closed up, with both Carroll and Albuquerque the main beneficiaries.
When the safety car returned with just ten laps to go, the three leaders instantly opened up a gap, although the order did not change.
Jani proved ultra-consistent as the race reached its closing stages, pushing out to a 1.3 second lead over Adam Carroll.
Robert Doorbos, who failed to capitalise on his P2 grid position, managed to squeeze by French driver Loic Duval to get into fifth place.
Kiwi luck changed with China's Congfu Chen having one more of many spins this weekend, allowing van der Drift to pick up another place. Mexico, Indonesia, Monaco and Lebanon had already exited the race, leaving Black Beauty in 14th place with three laps left.
