Di Grassi inherited the win when longtime leader Luca Filippi punted off Romain Grosjean at Turn 2, who had just passed him for the lead at the final corner on the lap before.
Grosjean was forced out after being shoved into the tyrewall, and was livid with the Italian's driving.
Filippi had led for the first nine laps, but despite his collision with Grosjean, clung on to second to the finish under pressure from third-placed Jerome d'Ambrosio. But it was in vain because the stewards slapped him with a 25-second penalty, which dropped him to 13th place.
Di Grassi, meanwhile, nipped ahead while Filippi was hitting Grosjean, and took the lead that he would hold to the end, despite a brief safety car period.
It was a hugely significant race for the title battle, as Bruno Senna looked set to eat into Giorgio Pantano's series lead. But after getting up to fourth from ninth on the grid, Senna shunted his iSport car into the wall.
It was a race he could have finished second in, and he rued afterwards: "I've let the team down."
The main beneficiaries were d'Ambrosio and Pantano, who finished third and fourth, with Diego Nunes scoring his first points of the year in fifth, ahead of Javier Villa.
Yesterday's winner Petrov had a ragged race, straightlining a chicane on the opening lap and ultimately getting punted into a spin by Karun Chandhok.
Pantano gained another three points over Senna today, taking his points tally to 70 to Senna's 58.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Di Grassi Barwa Campos Team 43:01.131 2. D'Ambrosio Dams + 6.456 3. Pantano Racing Engineering + 7.545 4. Nunes DPR + 12.039 5. Villa Racing Engineering + 12.674 6. Kobayashi Dams + 13.201 7. Valsecchi Durango + 15.394 8. Conway Trident Racing + 17.496 9. Tung Trident Racing + 20.072 10. Rodriguez FMS International + 22.960 11. Iaconelli BCN Competicion + 24.716 12. Valerio Durango + 25.933 13. Filippi Trust Team Arden + 29.213 14. Herck DPR + 1 Lap 15. Petrov Barwa Campos Team + 1 lap Retirements: Driver Team Laps Chandhok iSport International 18 Asmer FMS International 12 Grosjean ART Grand Prix 11 Soucek Super Nova Racing 7 Senna iSport International 7 Yamamoto ART Grand Prix 4 Valles BCN Competicion 3 Buemi Trust Team Arden 3 Maldonado Piquet Sports 2 Parente Super Nova Racing 0 Zuber Piquet Sports 0 Fastest lap: Di Grassi, 1:47.712 on lap 18
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