Russian Yan Leon Shlom took advantage of a spin from Fortec Motorsports team-mate Jannes Fittje to take victory in race one of EuroFormula Open’s Winter Series at Paul Ricard, a race held in extremely tricky conditions.
The race began behind the safety car with Fittje in the lead, and it appeared that the German was in control of the race once the green flag fell, only to see his team-mate close in.
Shlom had started the race in fifth but moved quickly ahead of both Harrison Scott and Thiago Vivacqua before putting a move on lap five on Nikita Troitskiy to run second.
Just two seconds separated them heading onto the penultimate lap, but a spin from Fittje allowed Shlom to take the lead, a position he would hold onto until the chequered flag despite conditions worsening once more, ultimately winning by 7.122 seconds.
Troitskiy survived his own moments to take the final spot on the podium for Drivex School, ending up 24.726 seconds down, but over 15-seconds clear of Scott, who also found himself spinning around mid-race as he chased down the Russian ahead of him.
Scott’s spin had put him behind Vivacqua, but the Campos Racing driver could not hold onto that position, dropping back behind the British RP Motorsport driver and finishing fifth on the road, while Pedro Cardoso completed the top six for Teo Martin Motorsport, with the Brazilian set to start race two from pole position as a result.
Seventh on the road was Carlin Motorsports’ Devlin De Francesco, ahead of Eliseo Martinez of Teo Martin Motorsport, while Alexey Chuklin of Fortec Motorsports and Lodovico Laurini of RP Motorsport completed the top ten.
Paul Ricard Race 1 Result
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