ART GP’s Aleksandr Smolyar emerged victorious in a pulsating opening French Race One ahead of home favourite, Victor Martins.
Smolyar started the race in sixth as pole-sitter, Calan Williams set the initial pace until he was passed by Logan Sargeant on lap seven with Ayumu Iwasa then passing the American for the lead on lap 10 until Smolyar passed him on lap 17 only to lose the lead to Martins a lap later.
Smolyar however forced a last lap move into Turn Eight to seal victory ahead of Martins as Iwasa got demoted to eighth with a five second time penalty for an illegal overtake on Sargeant, leaving Williams to take the last podium position.
Sargeant, Clement Novalak, Juan Manuel Correa, Doohan, Iwasa, Dennis Hauger and Olli Caldwell therefore rounded out the top ten, as Arthur Leclerc came from 30th on the grid to finish 12th and claim reverse pole for the second reverse-grid race.
In the driver standings, Hauger now leads the championship ahead of Martins by virtue of his win in Spain on 36 points apiece as Novalak leapfrogged Caldwell into third by just one point as Smolyar climbed to fifth.
Williams made a clean start to lead Sargeant who leapfrogged David Schumacher into second as the German just slid down the order throughout the race, finishing 16th at the checkered flag.
Lap six saw the first sign of tyre issues as Sargeant got wide at Turn 11 which almost allowed Iwasa through if not for the American’s defending, which enabled him to pass Williams at the start of the next lap with Iwasa getting past the Aussie later that same lap.
Just behind the front trio, Smolyar battled Manuel Correa for much of the opening laps and eventually forced his way on the inside of Turn One on lap nine, just one lap before Iwasa passed Sargeant for the lead into Turn 10 albeit off-track which cost him a five second time penalty.
One lap later, Martins passed Manuel Correa for fifth into Turn One with Smolyar then getting past Williams three laps later into that same corner to take third.
Iwasa meanwhile couldn’t shake Sargeant who lost two positions to Smolyar and Martins on lap 16 with the Russian quickly catching Iwasa on a crazy lap 17 with huge significance for the front runners.
Smolyar first caught and passed Iwasa into Turn Eight with Martins then demoting the Red Bull Junior to third through Turn 13, as Williams made a decisive move on Sargeant round the outside of Turn 10, which ultimately sealed a podium once Iwasa’s time penalty was applied post-race.
Up front, Martins caught Smolyar on lap 18 and made what was thought to be a race winning move into Turn Eight, only for Smolyar to strike back two laps later on the final lap into that very same corner to snatch the win.
The top eight then held position to the checkered flag when Iwasa’s time penalty was added, dropping him to eighth and ultimately fifth position for the second reverse-grid race later today at 3:40pm BST UK Time.
Leclerc meanwhile drove a quiet but controlled race from 30th on the grid after failing to set a representative time in Qualifying yesterday (18 June) to 12th, thereby inheriting the reverse pole.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Aleksandr Smolyar | ART GP | 20 | 38m 26.581 |
| 2 | Victor Martins | MP Motorsport | 20 | + 0.624 |
| 3 | Calan Williams | Jenzer | 20 | + 1.212 |
| 4 | Logan Sargeant | Charouz | 20 | + 1.779 |
| 5 | Clement Novalak | Trident | 20 | + 2.351 |
| 6 | Juan Manuel Correa | ART GP | 20 | + 2.666 |
| 7 | Jack Doohan | Trident | 20 | + 2.765 |
| 8 | Ayumu Iwasa | Hitech GP | 20 | + 5.825 |
| 9 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | 20 | + 6.237 |
| 10 | Olli Caldwell | PREMA | 20 | + 6.443 |
| 11 | Jak Crawford | Hitech GP | 20 | + 8.057 |
| 12 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | 20 | + 9.026 |
| 13 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | 20 | + 9.396 |
| 14 | Lorenzo Colombo | Campos | 20 | + 9.727 |
| 15 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | 20 | + 12.700 |
| 16 | David Schumacher | Trident | 20 | + 12.954 |
| 17 | Oliver Rasmussen | HWA Racelab | 20 | + 27.985 |
| 18 | Pierre-Louis Chovet | Campos | 20 | + 30.795 |
| 19 | Reshad de Gerus | Charouz | 20 | + 31.839 |
| 20 | Kaylen Frederick | Carlin | 20 | + 32.215 |
| 21 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | 20 | + 33.851 |
| 22 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | 20 | + 38.736 |
| 23 | Matteo Nannini | HWA Racelab | 20 | + 40.880 |
| 24 | Filip Ugran | Jenzer | 20 | + 41.087 |
| 25 | Rafael Villagomez | HWA Racelab | 20 | + 1m 01.307 |
| 26 | Roman Stanek | Hitech GP | 19 | + 1 Lap |
| 27 | Amaury Cordeel | Campos | 19 | + 1 Lap |
| 28 | Jonny Edgar | Carlin | 19 | + 1 Lap |
| 29 | Tijmen Van Der Helm | MP Motorsport | 19 | + 1 Lap |
| RET | Johnathan Hoggard | Jenzer | 0 | Collision |
Leave a Reply