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The 19-year-old started from pole and led in the early stages before drifting back as the 21-lap race wore on.
He was then ambushed by his more experienced rivals at a late restart that saw him drop to eighth at the chequered flag.
A good jump saw Mansell lead the pack into the first corner, with Gabriele Mini slotting into second and Durksen third.
The order remained that way to the end of the opening lap, Mansell building enough of an advantage to remain ahead despite the power of the slipstream for Mini down the long front straight.
DRS was enabled on Lap 2, though still the pole sitter was able to remain clear at the head of the field.
The field ran line astern, the top 10 all within DRS range of the car ahead, Kimi Antonelli the last car in the train.
A better run through the end of Lap 5 saw Mini shaping up for a move on Mansell.
Mini finally made the move into Turn 1 on Lap 7, Mansell looking to cut back underneath on exit but unable to find the traction.
The opportunity to seize the lead came after Mansell locked up at Turn 15 on the lap prior, compromising his exit approaching the all-important DRS zone down the front straight.
A lap later, Durksen was through at Turn 1 too as Mansell slipped to third.
His slide stopped there, Jak Crawford falling out of DRS range as the front three inched away from the pack.
On Lap 12, Durksen found himself tucked up behind Mini, who had a wild slide through Turn 16 – the kink on the front straight – to open the door for the AIX driver to seize top spot.
Once clear, Durksen quickly skipped away out of DRS range as Mini and Mansell were joined by Crawford and Victor Martins.
Against the experience of the two behind, Mansell slipped to fifth at Turn 1 as they began Lap 15.
Moments later, the Safety Car was called for when Ritomo Miyata found the wall at Turn 3.
Miyata had been attempting to pass Dennis Hauger, but went too deep as he moved up the inside and slid into the barrier.
Under the Safety Car, Enzo Fittipaldi, Amaury Cordeel, and Rafael Villagomez all stopped for super soft tyres in an attempt to jump forward with fresher rubber in the remaining laps.
Richard Verschoor had stopped earlier for much the same reason, his stop taken under green flag conditions.
Racing resumed with three laps remaining, Durksen heading the field to the green flag.
He left it late while behind Crawford stole second from Mini. Then came Martins and Mansell who found himself under huge pressure from Gabriel Bortoleto.
There was contact between the pair, Bortoleto brushing the wall in an incident noted by officials, as Paul Aron and Kimi Antonelli also scampered through, leaving the Australian in eighth once it all settled down.
In the lead, Durksen held on to win his first F2 race, followed by Crawford with Mini just 0.02s ahead of Martins. Mansell saw the flag eighth after a commendable debut performance.
