Scott (RP Motorsport) Wins Hard-Fought Race 1 at Estoril
The Euroformula Open started in style at Autódromo do Estoril with the opening race producing some breathtaking racing throughout its 19 car field. Harrison Scott (RP Motorsport) stormed to his maiden Euroformula Open victory with two other drivers celebrating their first podium in the series: Ameya Vaidyanathan (Carlin) and Matheus Iorio (Campos Racing). Jannes Fittje (Fortec), Eliseo Martínez (Teo Martín Motorsport) and Petru Florescu (Campos Racing) climbed onto the podium in the rookie class.
Early in the morning, Scott secured his maiden pole position after setting some impressive lap times with his Dallara. Briton Scott was some seven tenths of a second faster than closest rival Nikita Troitskiy (Drivex). Vaidyanathan and Thiago Vivacqua (Campos Racing) shared row two and Yan Leon Shlom (Fortec) started fifth on the grid ahead of Devlin DeFrancesco (Carlin). Alex Karkosik (RP Motorsport) got another honorable mention as he qualified seventh on his debut in the series.
The start of the race saw Troitskiy moving into the lead passing the pole-sitter. Scott still managed to keep Vaidyanathan at bay with Vivacqua, Karkosik and Shlom right behind. An eventful first lap saw two early retirements as Pedro Cardoso (Teo Martín Motorsport) and Daniil Pronenko (BVM Racing) crashed into each other. Vivacqua, running a solid fourth, also was forced to retire even before the safety car was deployed on lap two.
The safety car pulled off after five laps and at the restart Scott immediately moved past Troitskiy for the lead on the straight, but the Russian racer retook first place only a few moments later. Forming a three-way battle, Vaidyanathan also joined the battle up front. Once again, one lap later, Scott charged to the lead and Vaidyanathan, in his slipstream, also passed Troitskiy, who dropped to third. Both Scott and Vaidyanathan pulled away but Troitskiy struggled to keep pace. In fact, Shlom, Iorio, Karkosik and DeFrancesco added extra spice as they caught Troitskiy. Karkosik and DeFrancesco made contact and missed the chance to score a brilliant result on their debut in the series. Seconds later, Troitskiy touched Shlom’s rear tire with his front wing. As a result, Nikita was forced to retire and Shlom dropped down the order.
Despite Vaidyanathan pushing hard, Scott had the race under control and after twenty laps he took the checquered flag with a 1.3 second advantage over the Carlin driver. Behind them, Iorio secured the final step of the rostrum after moving up to third on lap nine. Fittje finished fourth to win the rookie class and Martínez and Florescu came fifth and sixth. Christian Hahn (Drivex) took seventh ahead of Ludovico Laurini (RP Motorsport). Javier Cobián (Teo Martín Motorsport) and Karkosik rounded off the top ten.
Race 1 Results
1st – No. 10, Harrison Scott, GBR, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, 20 laps, 35:31.577
2nd – No. 24, Ameya Vaidyanathan, IND, Carlin Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 1.368
3rd – No. 34, Matheus Iorio, BRA, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 12.731
4th – No. 18, Jannes Fittje*, DEU, Fortec Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 19.502
5th – No. 42, Eliseo Martinez Meroño*, ESP, Teo Martin Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 27.932
6th – No. 1, Petru Florescu*, ROU, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 28.295
7th – No. 12, Christian Hahn, BRA, Drivex School, Dallara F312, Gap: 35.877
8th – No. 8, Ludovico Laurini*, ITA, RP Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 41.018
9th – No. 44, Javier Cobián*, ESP, Teo Martin Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 43.887
10th – No. 2, Alex Karkosik*, POL, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Gap: 1:23.095
11th – No. 19, Yan Leon Shlom*, RUS, Fortec Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 1:29.308
12th – No. 17, Devlin DeFrancesco*, CAN/ITA, Carlin Motorsport, Dallara F312, Gap: 4 laps
Not Classified
No. 16, Nikita Troitskiy*, RUS, Drivex School, Dallara F312, Lap 13
No. 14, Tarun Reddy*, IND, Carlin Motorsport, Dallara F312, Lap 12
No. 3, Simo Laaksonen*, FIN, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Lap 10
No. 2, Thiago Vivacqua, BRA, Campos Racing, Dallara F312, Lap 1
No. 20, Najiy Ayyad Razak*, MYS, Fortec Motorsport, Dallara F312, Lap 1
No. 22, Daniil Pronenko, RUS, BVM Racing, Dallara F312, Lap 0
No. 43, Pedro Cardoso, BRA, Teo Martin Motorsport, Dallara F312, Lap 0
Fastest Lap
No. 24, Ameya Vaidyanathan, IND, Carlin Motorsport, Dallara F312, Lap 19, 1:34.669, 159.030 kph
Euroformula Open, April 27-30 (Local time):
Sunday:
Qualifying 2 09.00-09.30
Race 2 12.15 (19 laps – max. 35´)
Smtfhw's Travels 