Aurélien Panis secured his maiden Formula V8 3.5 series triumph in the second race of the weekend at Motorland Aragon after making a great start to pass pole sitter Tom Dillmann.
Panis got the superior getaway when the lights went out, and despite locking up into the opening corner was able to take the lead, a position he would not relinquish during the race.
Dillmann was forced to settle for second, with the AVF driver unable to do anything about the Arden Motorsport driver at the front, even during the mandatory pit stop window, with both drivers taking their stops at the same time on lap twelve.
Panis was able to manage the gap thereafter, winning by 2.024s, while Rene Binder secured a confidence-boosting podium for Lotus after making the switch this year from a disappointing spell in the GP2 Series.
Binder was able to capitalise on a clash between Louis Deletraz and Matthieu Vaxiviere that saw the former spin his Fortec Motorsports entry to the back of the field and the latter retire with damage to his SMP Racing machine.
Yu Kanamaru secured an excellent fourth for Teo Martin Motorsport on the team’s debut race weekend in the championship, with the Japanese racer finishing ahead of Deletraz, who recovered superbly to finish fifth.
Johnny Cecotto Jr was the best placed RP Motorsports driver in seventh, with AVF’s Alfonso Celis Jr eighth ahead of the second Fortec of Pietro Fittipaldi, while the final point went to SMP Racing’s Matevos Isaakyan, the youngest driver in the field, who made contact with Arden’s Egor Orudzhev in the closing stages as the duo battled for position.
Motorland Aragon Race 2 Result
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