Photo: Glenn Dunbar/GP2 Series Media Service

Jolyon Palmer claimed the GP2 title with three races to spare as everything fell his way in the Sochi feature race. Starting fourth, he did a good job to climb to second on a frantic opening lap, and would later benefit from the timing of a safety car to claim the win – the only result that would secure him the title. He also needed rival Felipe Nasr to not score; the Brazilian went from 12th to seventh on the first lap but stewards deemed he did that by going off track, handing him a penalty that meant he didn’t score.

Title secured, Palmer failed to score points for the first time in the sprint race when he was hit on the first lap, dropping him to the rear before fighting back to tenth. Nasr meanwhile did too little too late, soaring from 17th to third to retain second place in the standings.

That position had been under pressure from Stoffel Vandoorne, who had claimed his third straight pole and was on his way to victory when the timing of the safety car stopped him from pitting. On worn soft tyres he proceeded to open up a massive gap over the field before pitting late on, rejoining in seventh and finishing in fifth. He would just fall short of the victory he deserved on Sunday, settling for second.

Marco Sorensen was the man who beat Vandoorne to the sprint victory after starting on pole – a suitable reward for a part season that has seen him take ten top-ten finishes from 12 races. Completing Saturday’s podium meanwhile were Mitch Evans on home ground for his Russian Time team, and Raffaele Marciello bringing something to celebrate for the Ferrari Driver Academy in a difficult week.

GP3: Stoneman comes close to double win after team switch

Photo: Alastair Staley/GP3 Series Media Service

Dean Stoneman enjoyed a stunning weekend in Sochi, which ended with him forcing the title fight down to the wire, having begun with a chance of teams when Marussia Manor withdrew due to commercial issues. Returning to the Koiranen team with which he made an impressive debut last year, he took a dominant pole and a comfortable race one win. He then came through to second in race two, almost stealing the win on the last lap.

That result meant that he prevented Alex Lynn from wrapping up the title ahead of the final round. The Red Bull Junior just needed to maintain his points advantage over the rest during the Sochi event – and seventh on Saturday was enough to add two points to his margin with erstwhile rival Richie Stanaway restricted to 12th after a qualifying exclusion. But Lynn failed to capitalise on a front row start for race two, slipping back to fifth. With a 47-point lead and only 48 points left to collect, Lynn will be out of reach if Stoneman fails to take pole in Abu Dhabi.

Marvin Kirchhofer had also looked like he could keep himself in contention, taking second in race one and briefly taking the lead of race two on the final lap, only to fall to third behind Stoneman and pole-sitter Patric Niederhauser – who took his second win of the year. Jimmy Eriksson also cut his gap to Lynn with fourth on Saturday, but was penalised for triggering a first-corner pile-up in race two that led to a red flag, dropping him to 16th.

Alex Fontana had scored his second podium of the year in race one, but was eliminated in that race two collision when he was squeezed between Eriksson and Stoneman. Stanaway was an innocent bystander to now be three races without points, falling from second to fifth in the standings.

FIA F3 European Championship: Ocon gets over the line as top trio all win

Photo: FIA F3 European Championship

Esteban Ocon wrapped up the FIA F3 European Championship as he and his two main rivals all took a win each at Imola. Ocon’s victory came in the opening race from pole position, and a fourth and a third in the following races were enough to put him out of reach before next weekend’s final round.

Max Verstappen‘s first F3 race since being named as an F1 driver for 2015 was an eventful one. Starting 15th following a slightly below-par qualifying and a ten-place grid drop for his Nurburgring engine change, he made strong progress into the points early on but would go on to have three collisions before retiring, earning himself a suspended race ban. Claiming a double pole that afternoon but starting 11th from race two due to the last of his three penalties, he produced a magnificent fightback to second place before winning race three.

Tom Blomqvist had become Ocon’s closest rival after Verstappen’s race one woes, as the Briton finished in third place. He would then win race two to keep himself in contention, but fifth in race three was not enough – and saw him fall two points behind Verstappen in the fight for P2. Carlin team-mate Jordan King was second to Ocon in race one, before a poor 19th and 11th in the remaining races, while Antonio Giovinazzi scored a fifth, a second and a non-finish.

On home soil, Antonio Fuoco had a tough weekend after yet more contact with Verstappen in race one and a podium-denying puncture in race two. He shot into the lead ahead of Verstappen and Ocon in race three, but would then succumb to Verstappen and have to settle for second.

Italian F4: Maisano gets two wins in Stroll’s absence

Photo: ACI Sport

Italian F4 champion Lance Stroll was forced to miss the final round at Imola due to injury, allowing usual team-mate Brandon Maisano to dominate the weekend despite working on his own at Prema. The Frenchman won the first race by 13 seconds, went from tenth to third in race two and then won the finale by seven seconds – no doubt dedicating his success to compatriot and former Ferrari Driver Academy stable-mate Jules Bianchi.

Sennan Fielding impressed again in his second weekend in the series with Euronova. He finished second on the road in race one, but was penalised after an eventful race. Tenth did give him reverse grid pole for race two though, and he duly claimed victory. Damage saw him retire from race three.

Andrea Fontana and Matteo Desideri made the podium in race one behind Maisano, while Ivan Matveev was second to Euronova team-mate Fielding in race two. Race three saw Maisano joined on the rostrum by championship runner-up Mattia Drudi and Leonardo Pulcini.

Formula Ford GB: Kruger is provisional champion after eventful finale

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Phography

The resolution of the last British Formula Ford Championship will be settled in court after a controversial final round at Brands Hatch for the series that will become MSA Formula in 2015. Harrison Scott and Jayder Kruger were tied on points coming into the weekend and Scott opened up an eight-point advantage when he won the first race, with Kruger fourth.

They then made contact fighting for the lead of race two, resulting in Scott retiring and Kruger winning, giving a 22-point margin going into the final race. The clerk of the course penalised Kruger for causing an avoidable incident, but stewards rescinded that penalty after Kruger’s JTR team appealed. Falcon have in turn protested that decision to the MSA.

Kruger took a 22-point provisional lead into the finale, which Scott won. Kruger was only eighth, but that gives him a six-point advantage, making him provisional champion.

Elsewhere, Ricky Collard ended his rookie season with a second, a fifth and a third. Ashley Sutton went off from the lead in race one but was then third and second in the remaining races, securing P3 in the points. Juan Rosso beat Max Marshall to fourth place by a single point after coming on top in their fight for P4 in the final race, with both having taken a podium earlier in the weekend. An off in that race that dropped James Abbott from third to sixth also forced him to settle for P6 in the points, just 11 off Sutton.

Japanese F3: Matsushita is champion as Katsuta and Sasaki win races

Photo: Japanese Formula 3 Association

Honda Formula Dream driver Nobuharu Matsushita is the Japanese F3 champion for 2014 following the final round at Fuji supporting the FIA World Endurance Championship. A double win at the penultimate round at Sugo had given him a 17-point lead, and a fourth and a third at Fuji was enough for him to win the crown by 12 points. A move to Europe could well be on the cards for Matsushita, 21 on Monday, given Honda’s recent tie-ups with McLaren and ART.

Toyota-backed Takamoto Katsuta and Nissan driver Daiki Sasaki claimed the race victories at Fuji as they finished fourth and fifth respectively in the standings. Double pole-sitter Sasaki and championship runner-up Kenta Yamashita completed the race one podium, with Yamashita also taking P2 in race two. Yamashita will travel to the Macau Grand Prix next month, as well third-placed driver Mitsunori Takaboshi, who was fourth and fifth during the final weekend.

British driver Dan Wells made his series debut with Toda Racing ahead of his Macau entry, qualifying sixth and seventh for the two races before mechanical issues restricted him to tenth and ninth respectively.

Star Driver: Dean Stoneman

Photo: Sam Bloxham/GP3 Series Media Service

Stoneman’s Sochi performance was phenomenal, immediately on the pace on a car that had been seconds off it all season, taking pole by a comfortably margin on the new circuit and coming close to taking a double win. He jumped from eighth in the standings to second, taking a slim chance of the title to Abu Dhabi. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he kept that chance through qualifying there, either, given how good he was for Koiranen there last year.

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Photo: ACI Sport

Prema driver Brandon Maisano took a dominant victory in the final race of the 2014 Italian F4 season at Imola.

It was a relaxing Sunday drive for the 21-year-old Frenchman, who started from pole, took the fastest lap and led all 17 laps of the race. It was the former Ferrari junior’s fifth win of the season.

Behind him though, it was all to play for. Leonardo Pulcini got the jump on Mattia Drudi?for second at the start, and the DAV racer held off Drudi’s advances for most of the race. It was only on the penultimate lap of the race that Drudi managed to get past with a late-braking move at the Variante Bassa.

Andrea Russo finished fourth, with SMP-backed Russian driver Ivan Matveev coming home in fifth. Drudi’s Indian teammate Mahaveer Raghunathan finished sixth ahead of Andrea Fontana, who lost three places on lap seven due to an off-track excursion.

Robert Shwartzman, Edi Haxhiu and Shinji Sawada completed the top ten, the Japanese driver taking his first point in the series in the process.

Euronova’s Sennan Fielding, who won race two, had a torrid afternoon. After losing several places due to a slow start, he had damage whilst battling with Matteo Desideri, an incident which saw the Italian retire from the race.

Fielding’s pace dropped significantly thereafter, and he later collided with Jonathan Giudice, both drivers being forced to retire as a result.

Race results

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Photo: ACI Sport

Euronova driver Sennan Fielding held off the advances of Ivan Matveev and Brandon Maisano to secure his first win of the 2014 Italian F4 season in the final round of the championship at Imola.

The 18-year-old BRDC F4 frontrunner started from reverse-grid pole after having been demoted to tenth in the first race for causing an avoidable collision.

As the lights went out, Fielding had a good getaway, while Cram driver Robert Shwartzman stalled right behind him.

Further down the field, Mattia Drudi and Matteo Desideri came to blows at the Tamburello chicane, both drivers retiring on the spot.

Maisano was the biggest mover of the first lap and was up to fourth from tenth on the grid at the start of lap two. He soon passed Lucas Mauron, who lost another place to Fielding’s teammate Andrea Fontana on the following lap.

Prema driver Maisano began putting pressure Matveev, and, having passed him at Tamburello on lap eight, lost no time in harrying Fielding for the lead.

However, on the last lap, he tried to make a move stick around the outside of the Briton at Tosa in vain, and Matveev managed to snatch second place back at the next corner, which he kept to the line.

Fontana and Mauron were fourth and fifth, with F & M driver Mahaveer Raghunathan finishing sixth. Italian driver Andrea Russo managed to move up from 20th to seventh in the race, making several passes including a double overtake on his teammate Joao Vieira and Israeli driver Bar Baruch.

Edi Haxhiu took eighth, with Vieira and Baruch completing the top ten. Japanese driver and series newcomer Shinji Sawada crashed on the final lap while trying to pass Baruch for tenth.

Race results

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Photo: ACI Sport

A dominant display by Prema driver Brandon Maisano saw him clinch pole for races one and three in the final weekend of the 2014 Italian F4 season at Imola.

The 21-year-old Frenchman was rarely troubled in either session, and in each occasion had large gaps to the driver behind.

Andrea Russo, one of the contenders for second place in the championship, was over three-tenths off Maisano’s pace in the first session in 2nd.

Another contender for second, Mattia Drudi, qualified in third place ahead of Euronova’s Sennan Fielding.

Antonelli’s Joao Vieira and SMP-backed Russian driver Ivan Matveev will share row three of the grid for race one. Behind them, Euronova’s Andrea Fontana and F & M driver Mahaveer Raghunathan made up the fourth row.

Bosnian driver Edi Haxhiu and Italian Matteo Desideri completed the top ten grid spots for the first race.

Maisano’s pole margin in the second session was even greater, over half-a-second ahead of Drudi.

Fielding improved right at the end to take third on the grid ahead of Leonardo Pulcini and Matveev. Russo’s failure to improve on his final two timed runs meant he was shuffled down to sixth.

Vieira could only manage seventh on the grid after spinning into the gravel, an incident which resulted in the session being red-flagged at the halfway point. He will share the fourth row of the grid with Fontana. Raghunathan and Desideri locked out row five for race three.

Q1 results

Q2 results

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Photo: ACI Sport

Prema Powerteam driver Brandon Maisano went fastest in both Friday practice sessions of the final round of the 2014 Italian F4 season at Imola by a considerable margin.

The 21-year-old Frenchman, who has clinched the Trophy Class title for drivers born before 1996, was over half a second quicker than Mattia Drudi?in practice one and three tenths faster than the Italian in the second session.

DAV driver Leonardo Pulcini was third fastest in the morning, nine-thousandths of a second behind Drudi. SMP-backed Russian driver Ivan Matveev was fourth, ahead of Drudi’s teammate Mahaveer Raghunathan.

Lucas Mauron was the quickest Jenzer driver in sixth, with Euronova driver and BRDC F4 frontrunner Sennan Fielding in seventh. Andrea Russo, Andrea Fontana and Alain Valente completed the top ten.

In the second session, Raghunathan was an impressive third fastest ahead of Pulcini and Antonelli driver Joao Vieira. Matveev was sixth quickest, with Fielding, Russo, Fontana and Valente completing the top ten once again.

Series champion Lance Stroll was absent from proceedings in free practice, although the Ferrari junior is registered in the official entry list for this weekend.

Practice results

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Photo: ACI Sport

Mattia Drudi moved up from tenth on the grid to win race two of the sixth round of the 2014 Italian F4 season at Monza.

Ivan Matveev started on pole, but bogged down at the start. Andrea Fontana surged into the lead ahead of Alain Valente, while Sennan Fielding got a strong start from ninth and was up to third, ahead of Lance Stroll and Drudi.

Further behind, there was contact on the first lap between usual frontrunners Brandon Maisano and Andrea Russo, both drivers crashing out of the race.

Valente soon tried to outbrake Fontana into turn one, but went on to the grass on the outside, forcing the Italian driver to straight-line the chicane. Fielding took advantage and went into the lead.

Drudi passed Stroll and Valente on lap four, the Swiss driver also losing out to Stroll. An error from Fontana dropped him to fourth, into the clutches of Valente. The pair made contact at Ascari and Fontana was forced to pit for repairs.

Back at the front it became a three-way fight for the lead. Drudi made his move for first on lap six, making a late dive up the inside of Fielding into the first chicane. The Briton did not give up, harrying the Italian all the way to the line, but it was Drudi who came out on top for the third time this season.

Stroll took third, but there was a huge fight for fourth place behind them. Joao Vieira caught up to Valente and the pair switched positions several times over the course of a few laps, allowing Mahaveer Raghunathan and Robert Schwartzman to get into the mix as well.

At the Parabolica corner on the final lap, Valente made a bold move on the inside of Vieira, and the Brazilian went off into the tarmac run-off, ultimately finishing only seventh. Shwartzman also passed Raghunathan at the line to take fifth.

Edi Haxhiu came home eighth, ahead of Swiss drivers Nico Rindlisbacher and Jonathan Giudice, who completed the top ten.

Race results

The post Drudi takes second straight win at Monza appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: ACI Sport

F & M driver Mattia Drudi took his second win of the season in an incident-packed first race in round six of the 2014 Italian F4 season at Monza.

The 16-year-old Italian lined up on pole, but lost the lead to Prema driver Brandon Maisano at the start. He lost further ground thereafter, and was passed by recently-crowned champion Lance Stroll, series newcomer Sennan Fielding, and Andrea Russo to be shuffled down to fifth on lap two.

At the start of the second lap, there was contact between Robert Shwartzman and Takashi Kasai on the run down to turn one, despite yellow flags being waved there. Shwartzman careered into the back of Leonardo Pulcini, who went off and hit a recovery truck. The carnage brought out the safety car.

The safety car stayed out for several laps, but when it finally came in, the race burst into life. Maisano reacted slowly on the restart, and Stroll swiftly pounced on his teammate, demoting the Frenchman to second. Russo passed Fielding for third and began pressurising the Prema duo in front of him.

Maisano, in a bid to try and get back the lead, ran wide and lost out to Russo. The trio switched positions for the best part of the next three laps. Russo passed Stroll for the lead, straight-lining the second chicane and picking up a warning for his troubles.

It soon turned into a five-way fight for the lead, as Drudi and Fielding caught up with the top three. Both drivers made their way past Maisano, but on the penultimate lap, there was contact between Stroll and Russo at the first chicane, gifting the lead to Drudi. The Italian did not look back, crossing the line 0.57 seconds ahead of Russo.

Stroll meanwhile, came off worst in the melee, dropping down to fifth, while Fielding managed to secure a podium on his maiden outing. Maisano came home fourth, in what was the first time that not a single Prema car had finished on the podium in 2014.

Lucas Mauron charged from 11th to sixth after the restart, with Fielding’s Euronova teammate Andrea Fontana finishing in seventh. Alain Valente and Matteo Desideri came home eighth and ninth, ahead of Ivan Matveev, who will start race 2 on reverse-grid pole.

Update: Russo was given a 1.6 second penalty to drop him from second to fifth, putting him behind Fielding, Maisano and Stroll.

Race results

*Russo received a penalty of 1.6 seconds

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Photo: Alexandre Guillaumot/DPPI

Roberto Merhi continued his strong recent form at the Hugaroring to close the gap to Formula Renault 3.5 leader Carlos Sainz to just 16 points. Merhi scored his third win from four races in the opener, finishing almost half a minute ahead of anyone else in wet conditions despite starting seventh. He beat Sainz to pole for race two, but would have to settle for second behind Norman Nato.

Nato, whose only podium finish earlier this year was his win in Monaco, qualified in third for both races, but had a poor start on Saturday and finished back in eighth. He got a great launch on Sunday though, propelling him ahead of Merhi and Sainz and into the lead by the first corner.

Sainz had a nightmare qualifying on Saturday, caught out by a red flag that ended the session early and left him down in 14th. He quickly got up to fourth in the opening laps, but that would be as far as he would get. In race two, he fell to fifth exiting the first corner after his car went into anti-stall, and lost another place later to Red Bull stablemate Pierre Gasly, not helped by a braking issue.

Gasly took two podiums from a FR3.5 weekend for the first time, passing Oliver Rowland for second at the last corner in race one and then beating his long-term rival to third place on Sunday. Rowland had led the first race early on from pole, but would have to settle for third and fourth from the two races.

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0: Pizzitola and Aitken win, Leclerc shines again

Photo: Gregory Lenormand/DPPI

Andrea Pizzitola moved up to third in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 standings with his second victory of the season from pole position in race one at the Hungaroring. Finishing back in ninth in race two, Pizzitola is 60 points off the championship lead, but only 14 away from second place.

Jack Aitken won the second race, taking his first win in the Eurocup. He started race one from the back of the grid after a qualifying crash and finished 18th, but bounced back on Sunday to claim pole and victory.

Aitken was chased home by Fortec team-mate and wildcard entry Charles Leclerc, who took his third second-place finish from the last three Eurocup races having also finished in the same place in race one.

Behind the 16-year-old karting graduate in race one was Nyck de Vries. With Leclerc not eligible to score, the Dutchman took 18 points. Although he finished back in seventh in race two after a misjudged move costs him places, he still twice finished ahead of nearest rival Dennis Olsen. The Norwegian was only ninth and eighth in the two races, giving de Vries a 48-point lead with two rounds left.

British F3: Rao takes two dominant wins, but Cao does enough for title

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

The battle between Fortec team-mates Martin Cao and Matt Rao for what is feared could be the last British F3 title ended in favour of the former after the season finale at Donington Park. The first race was decisive, with Rao stalling on the grid and coming back to third while Cao claimed victory, extending his points lead to 24.

Cao then finished second in race two behind Rao to take a 20-point lead into the final race. That meant, with only a five-car field, that he simply had to finish, so he started from the pits and cruised round in last place to seal the title by two points, as Rao took a second comfortable win.

Max Marshall finished second in races one and three, while Camren Kaminsky took third places in races two and three.

German F3: Pommer wins both races in disrupted Lausitz weekend

Photo: Alexander Trienitz/ATS F3 Cup

Markus Pommer put himself in position to wrap up the German F3 title next weekend with victory in the two races ran on a Lausitz weekend hit by the weather. With race one postponed to Sunday because of fog and the reverse grid race cancelled altogether, Pommer took comfortable victories in the wet on Sunday morning and dry conditions of the afternoon.

He now has a 107-point lead, with 138 available from the final two rounds. Nearest rival Nabil Jeffri kept his narrow hopes alive by finishing second to Pommer in both races.

Indy Dontje completed a Motopark podium lockout in the opening race, but contact restricted him to sixth in the second race. Sam MacLeod benefited to take third. SMP-backed Nikita Zlobin scored his best ever result of fourth in race one, and went on to repeat that in the finale.

Italian F4: Stroll wraps up title already as Prema dominate

Photo: ACI Sport

Little more than three months after the Italian F4 championship began, 15-year-old Lance Stroll wrapped up the title at the end of round five of seven at Vallelunga, where Prema dominated and Stroll scored his sixth and seventh wins of the year. The Ferrari protege had to play second fiddle to team-mate Brandon Maisano in race one, but with the Frenchman not eligible to score, Stroll took maximum points and did the same with wins in races two and three.

After coming fourth in race two, Maisano was second to Stroll in race three after an error cost him the lead. That was enough for him to secure the Trophy classification for drivers born before 1996. Takashi Kasai gave Prema a one-two-three in race one, and finished tenth and fourth in the other races.

Andrea Fontana and Alain Valente made the podium behind Stroll in race two, while Mattia Drudi completed the top three in race three.

F4 Sudamericana: Baptista gets first win to keep points lead

Bruno Baptista scored his first win in F4 Sudamericana in the fourth round of the season – and the third at the El Pinar circuit – to stay in the championship lead after a race one retirement. Juan Manuel Casella claimed victory in the opener with a late pass on Felipe Ortiz, but Ortiz still took the standings lead away from Baptista.

Casella led much of race two, but had to settle for second behind Baptista, whose victory was enough to put him back into the points lead, with Ortiz finishing back in fifth place. Nicolas Muraglia took his best-yet result of third in race one, as did Francisco Camarotta in race two.

AsiaCup Series: Herta joins field and denies Parsons a win

American driver Colton Herta – the son of IndyCar owner and ex-driver Bryan – joined the AsiaCup Series for the second round at Sepang and ended Jake Parsons‘ winning run in the opening race.

Having won the four races at the opening round, Parsons would go onto win the three remaining races.

Star Driver: Charles Leclerc

Max Verstappen’s former karting rival and fellow 16-year-old may have missed out on the Alps title to de Vries, but Leclerc upstaged him in the Eurocup in Hungary with two second-place finishes, adding to his similar result last time out at the Nurburgring. Up against all the experience and ability in the Eurocup field, it’s an impressive feat, and suggests he could also be ready to make big steps up the ladder.

Photo: Gregory Lenormand/DPPI

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Photo: ACI Sport

Lance Stroll was secured the inaugural Italian F4 champion after winning a titanic tussle with teammate Brandon Maisano and claiming victory in the third race of the weekend at Vallelunga.

Stroll’s win, coupled with nearest championship rival Andrea Russo finishing only seventh, was enough for the Ferrari protege to clinch the championship.

The 15-year-old Canadian, starting alongside poleman Maisano, shadowed his teammate throughout the first few laps, briefly getting alongside on lap seven, but to no avail.

Maisano, then ran wide on lap 12, promoting Stroll into the lead. It was anything but a relaxing Sunday drive for the Ferrari junior?thereon, but he managed to hold on to take his second victory of the weekend.

Ineligible for the main championship due to his age, ex-FDA driver Maisano has now mathematically wrapped up the Trophy class for those born before 1996.

Euronova’s Leonardo Pulcini made a strong start from fifth and was up to third, but was under constant pressure from Mattia Drudi. The F & M racer made a late dive up the inside of Pulcini on lap 12 for the final podium spot, while Prema’s Takashi Kasai followed through, demoting Pulcini back to fifth.

Pulcini’s teammate Andrea Fontana had a similar race, moving up to sixth at the start, but struggled for pace and slipped back gradually. Antonelli duo of Joao Vieira and Russo finished sixth and seventh, ahead of Jenzer’s Alain Valente. SMP-backed driver Ivan Matveev finished ninth despite colliding with Mahaveer Raghunathan in the closing stages, with Fontana completing the top ten.

Race results

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Photo: ACI Sport

Italian F4 Championship leader Lance Stroll clinched a hard-fought victory for Prema Powerteam in the reverse grid race two at Vallelunga.

The 15-year-old Canadian started in ninth place, but stormed up to fifth at the start, and then began catching the drivers in front at a swift rate. He took the lead with a switch-back on Andrea Fontana two laps from the end, and pulled away to take victory by over two seconds. Jenzer’s Alain Valente completed the podium.

The start saw several changes in position, with the Malta Racing car of poleman Keith Camilleri going into anti-stall, while the Euronova cars of Fontana and Leonardo Pulcini surged past Edi Haxhiu to go into first and second places respectively.

A battle ensued between the stablemates, with Pulcini passing Fontana for the lead on lap three, but his compatriot returned him the favour three laps later.

The race sprang to life right after that, with Stroll passing Valente for fourth on the same lap. On the following lap, Haxhiu was baulked by the struggling Pulcini, which allowed Stroll to get past the Bosnian. The Ferrari junior proceeded to pass both Euronova cars in front of him, while Haxhiu made an error which dropped him down to seventh.

Pulcini continued to struggle, and was passed by Valente and race one winner Brandon Maisano, ending up in fifth place at the?flag. Brazilain driver Joao Vieira ended up on Pulcini’s gearbox in sixth, while Israeli driver Bar Baruch pipped Haxhiu to the post on the last lap to take seventh.

Mattia Drudi and Takashi Kasai rounded off the top ten, neither driver being able to make much progress from their starting grid positions.

Race results

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