A thrilling finale the one of the first Imola race that crowned the young Prema Junior Team driver Antonio Fuoco. The Italian, pole setter, was perfect in the start and a real ruler till few laps from the chequered flag. To mix things up a short but heavy shower, with the leader ending up long at the Rivazza, and passed by the Frenchmen William Vermont (Arta Engineering) and Pierre Gasly (Tech1 Racing). The red flag however restored Fuoco first place granting him the second consecutive win after the success in the Vallelunga opening round race 2 at the beginning of April.
The Imola win granted Fuoco a considerable margin in the overall standing taking his lead up to 23 points over Gasly. Under the spotlights the two other Prema drivers Bruno Bonifacio and Luca Ghiotto, respectively fourth and sixth. Good driving also from the Dutch Nyck de Vries, fastes tin the Qualify Group B but then in fourth row on the grid for a Vallelunga stewards decision. The Koiranen GP managed an impressive recovery still not fully at ease with the car.
THE REPORT. At the start Fuoco kept the lead chased by Gasly and Vermont. Fourth Bonifacio, with de Vries soon behind him starting from the fourth row. At lap five the leaders margin is about 27. Consistent driving from (sixth), ahead of Dalewski and Orudzhev. The latter, at lap ten, is passed by Vaxiviere ninth in the early stages. With three minutes to go the rain and Vermont overtakes Gasly at Tamburello. With the damp track Fuoco spuns at Rivazza while Vermont manages not to crash into him. In the same place De Vries as well ends up in the gravel and the red flag follows. The race is over and the official standing is the one at the previous lap with Fuoco ahead of Gasly and Vermont.It started raining at the end, but it was still dry in most places. When Ive approached the Rivazza, the track was wet. Furthermore in the gravel there was already another car. Ive spun but all went well - commented Antonio Fuoco, cheeered at the podium cerimony by his fans.
Race 1 (top-10): 1. Antonio Fuoco ITA (Prema Junior) 11 laps in 1839186; 2. Pierre Gasly FRA (Tech1 Racing) 2642; 3. William Vermont FRA (Arta Engineering) 3366; 4. Bruno Bonifacio BRA (Prema Powerteam) 5120; 5. Nyck de Vries NDL (Koiranen GP) 7650; 6. Luca Ghiotto ITA (Prema Powerteam) 10924; 7. Jakub Dalewski POL (JD Motorsport) 13929; 8. Matthieu Vaxiviere FRA (Tech1 Racing) 15783; 9. Egor Orudzhev RUS (Tech1 Racing) 17593; 10. Simon Tirman (Arta Engineering) 24098.
Unofficial standing after 3 races (top-10): 1. Antonio Fuoco 68; 2. Pierre Gasly 45; 3. Bruno Bonifacio 37; 4. Luca Ghiotto 36; 5. Guilherme Silva, William Vermont 23; 7. Nyck de Vries 22; 8. Matthieu Vaxiviere 14; 9. Ukyo Sasahara 8; 10. Dario Capitanio, Gregor Ramsay 6.
