Clerot takes maiden F3 win in Madrid Feature Race 1
Rookie driver Pedro Clerot came home to take a solid maiden victory at the all-new Madring track in Madrid.
Taito Kato and Tuukka Taponen completed the podium as Ugo Ugochukwu tied up the championship heading into the final race with a fourth place finish.
How it happened
Kato led from pole position but it was Clerot who took first place heading into Turn 1. The cars at the front kept it clean but further back a pileup at Turns 7 and 8 caused a Red Flag just a few corners into the first lap.
Championship leader Freddie Slater, who started the race from 16th, made contact with another driver early in the lap but was able to stay out of trouble as two Van Amersfoort Racing drivers, Bruno Del Pino and Enzo Deligny, collided to begin the pileup.
After a lengthy delay to clean up the track, the race got back underway, Clerot leading Kato this time ahead of Taponen and Ugo Ugochukwu. The rolling restart meant less margin for error and the top four remained the same heading into the first corners, Jin Nakamura completing the top five.
Nicola Lacorte picked up a five second penalty for speeding in the pitlane, though he was already sitting in last place of all the 21 drivers who survived the Lap 1 incident and were able to make the restart.
Slater, who was running in 15th after the restart, went wide and lost DRS, leaving him vulnerable to Kanato Le behind him. But contact between the drivers ahead of Slater allowed him to close back up and challenge for 14th place.
But the real dramatic championship implication came on Lap 9 when Slater hit the wall and brought out the Safety Car, meaning he would certainly score no points in this race. Ugochukwu, just 12 points behind Slater in the title fight, was still running fourth as the Safety Car came out.
The field went back to green on Lap 12 of 19, Clerot continuing to lead Kato and Taponen. The race calmed down in the closing stages as Clerot led a smooth race to take his first F3 victory by 1.2 seconds over Kato. Taponen maintained third to take the final place on the podium.
Fourth place granted Ugochukwu the 12 points he needed to tie the championship, putting him ahead of Slater in the standings based on race wins. He'll start second for tomorrow's race while Slater starts eighth.
Nakamura completed the top five in today's Feature Race with Alessandro Giusti behind him in sixth. They were followed by one of this morning's podium sitters, Alex Powell, in seventh. The Campos Racing pair of Ernesto Rivera and Théophile Naël finished eighth and ninth to help Campos secure the Teams' Championship, while PREMA Racing's James Wharton completed the top 10.
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