Shlom (Fortec Motorsports) takes last-minute win in race 1

Euroformula Open newcomer took the honors ahead of his teammate Fittje. Troitskiy (Drivex) stepped onto the podium in the third place.

Russia´s Yan Leon Shlom, on his debut in the Euroformula Open with Fortec Motorsports, snatched a breathtaking win at Circuit Paul Ricard in treacherous conditions. In a rain-affected qualifying, his teammate Jannes Fittje stormed to pole position by clocking a lap time of 2:16.318 ahead of Nikita Troitskiy (Drivex), the only drivers to break the 2:17 barrier.

Despite wet weather were extremely demanding for drivers in the morning, conditions steadily worsened for race 1. In fact, the field started behind the safety car. Then, after three laps, the safety car pulled into the pit lane with Fittje leading the pack ahead of Troitskiy, Thiago Vivacqua (Campos Racing), Shlom, Harrison Scott (RP Motorsport), Simo Laaksonen (Campos Racing) and the duo of Carlin, Devlin DeFrancesco and Ameya Vaidyanathan. Soon, several drivers such Matheus Iorio (Campos Racing) and his teammate Laaksonen or Daniil Pronenko (BVM Racing) lost time due to spins or they were forced to retire from the race.

Up front, Fittje pulled away and Shlom moved up to second after passing Troitskiy on lap five. Scott and Vivacqua, who was overtaken by the RP Motorsport driver and Shlom one lap earlier, were running in fourth and fifth. As weather conditions slightly improved, the two Fortec drivers traded fastest laps but Shlom began closing on Fittje. Finally, German driver spun and Shlom deprived his teammate of success. Fittje still secured 1-2 finish for Fortec ahead of Troitskiy.

Scott came fourth following a spin and Vivacqua finished fifth and Brazil´s driver spearheaded Campos Racing charge. Pedro Cardoso, putting in a brilliant recovery drive, took sixth place for Teo Martín Motorsport. DeFrancesco finished in seventh place, Eliseo Martínez (Teo Martínez Motorsport) in 8th and Alexey Chuklin (Fortec) in 9th. Ludovico Laurini (RP Motorsport) also made it into the top-ten.

 

2017 Euroformula Open Winter F3 Series – Race 1

1^st – No. 19, Yan Shlom*, RUS, Fortec Motorsport, Dallara F312, 14 laps, 37:14.868

2^nd – No. 18, Jannes Fittje*, DEU, Fortec Motorsport, Dallara F312, 37:21.989, Gap: 7.121

3^rd – No. 16, Nikita Troitskiy*, RUS, Drivex School, Dallara F312, 37:39.595, Gap: 24.727

4^th – No. 10, Harrison Scott, GBR, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, 37:54.830, Gap: 39.962

5^th – No. 3, Thiago Vivacqua, BRA, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, 37:57.606, Gap: 42.738

6^th – No. 43, Pedro Cardoso, BRA, Teo Martin Motorsport, Dallara F312, 38:00.305, Gap: 45.437

7^th – No. 17, Devlin De Francesco*, ITA, Carlin Motorsport, Dallara F312, 38:05.423, Gap: 50.555

8^th – No. 42, Eliseo Martinez*, ESP, Teo Martin Motorsport, Dallara F312, 38:16.359, Gap: 1:01.491

9^th – No. 20, Alexey Chuklin, UKR, Fortec Motorsport, Dallara F312, 38:28.236, Gap: 1:13.368

10^th – No. 8, Lodovico Laurini*, ITA, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, 38:51.395, Gap: 1:36.527

11^th – No. 24, Ameya Vaidyanathan, IND, Carlin Motorsport, Dallara F312, 38:55.734, Gap: 1:40.866

12^th – No. 44, Javier Cobián*, ESP, Teo Martin Motorsport, Dallara F312, 38:56.861, Gap: 1:41.993

13^th – No. 4, Matheus Iorio, BRA, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, 39:32.068, Gap: 2:17.200

14^th – No. 12, Christian Hahn, BRA, Drivex School, Dallara F312, Gap: 2 laps

15^th – No. 1, Petru Florescu*, ROU, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 3 laps

16^th – No. 9, Kane Shepherd*, THA, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 3 laps

17^th – No. 2, Simo Laaksonen*, FIN, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 9 laps

18^th – No. 22, Daniel Pronenko, RUS, BVM Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 10 laps

 

Fastest Lap:

No. 19, Yan Shlom*, RUS, Fortec Motorsport, Dallara F312, 2:19.438