Alexandre Munoz converted pole position into his maiden FIA Formula Regional European Championship victory at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, becoming the fifth different race winner in the first six races of the inaugural season.

The French F4 champion, a rookie at Formula Regional level, came out on top in the opening race of the weekend, which had been delayed due to adverse weather conditions and took place during the slot allocated for the reverse-grid Race 2 that was subsequently cancelled.

Driving for ART Grand Grand Prix Munoz held off UAE’s Rashid Al Dhaheri (R-ace GP) and Prema Racing’s British driver Kean Nakamura-Berta, who finished the first wet race of the season in second and third respectively.

Japan’s Yuki Sano (R-ace GP) banked his best result of the season in fourth, while championship leader Sebastian Wheldon, from America, followed home in fifth for MP Motorsport.

First-time winner Munoz said: “The wet conditions were a completely new experience for us this weekend with the new car, but the pace was really strong from the start of the race. The car felt fantastic in the opening stages and I was able to build a gap of almost two seconds to the cars behind. The race became quite intense towards the end, especially after the final Safety Car when Rashid was right behind me. It was all about managing the restart, staying focused and defending when necessary. In the end, we got the win, and that's what matters most. Now the goal is to carry this momentum into tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, the top 10 was completed by Emanuele Olivier, Alex Ninovic, Reza Seewooruthun, Gabriel Gomaz and Maksimilian Popov.

Qualifying 2 is next from 09:55 local time tomorrow (Sunday) with Race 3 scheduled at 14:20. Both will be live on YouTube as well as being broadcast by 70 networks across 200 territories worldwide.