Colton Herta was untouchable as he clinched his third victory of the EuroFormula Open as the Carlin led driver from led every lap having started from pole position, leading every lap and taking fastest lap in the process.
Herta got a much better getaway than fellow front starter Damiano Fioravanti, but the Italian slotted in behind the American, but found himself caught and passed by championship leader Leonardo Pulcini with a handful of laps remaining.
Pulcini had earlier passed debutant Harrison Scott for third, having seen the British racer make a good start to slot into that position into turn one. The Italian could have held station behind Fioravanti in the knowledge that the RP Motorsport driver had a one-second time penalty for track limit offences, but Pulcini was not happy to settle for that, and made the pass at the end of the back straight.
With Ferdinand Habsburg getting shuffled back to seventh on the opening lap and being unable to progress any further up the order thereafter, Pulcini now has one hand on the title, and can clinch it outright on Sunday.
Scott held off Diego Menchaca to take fourth at the chequered flag, with Tatiana Calderon holding off Habsburg for sixth despite constant pressure from the Drivex School driver.
Ye Hongli took eighth for BVM Racing, ahead of Carlin duo Keyvan Andres and Ameya Vaidyanathan who completed the top ten, and with Scott ineligible for points, Antoni Ptak will take the final point despite finishing down in eleventh for RP Motorsport.
Circuito de Jerez Race 1 Result
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