Tymek Kucharczyk climbed again to the top step of the podium in Race 1 at Barcelona, increasing to 36 points his lead in the championship ahead of Michael Shin, who lived a gloom day, with no points earned. The Pole of BVM Racing dominated the proceedings from the very start of a lively race, held in very warm weather.
Yevan David (Motopark) finished second but could not take full advantage from the pole position signed in the morning, the second of the season, but remains in the race for the title, 38 points behind Kucharczyk. Fernando Barrichello, after missing the last round in Austria, came back to the series to reclaim third.
For Tymek Kucharczyk it definitely was a good day: “It’s the best possible result, and quite a good one towards the championship”, he declared. “The good start was key, but it wasn’t an easy race. It was very warm and the final laps were very demanding, also because I was feeling a bit unwell these days.”
As said, David could not keep the advantage of the pole position at kick-off, being passed by both Kucharczyk and de la Torre, with Garfias fourth ahead of Stack, Barrichello, Shin and Pearson. In lap 3 occurred the first incident worth of note when Stack and Shin collided, with both making it difficultly to the pits, with damaged wheels. They both could rejoin but one and two laps behind, respectively. For the Korean, in particular, the consequences were negative, as he scored no points, although he did not lose the second position in the standings.
De la Torre received a five-second penalty for jump start and was passed by David for second (on the track) in lap 7. The Mexican later had an off-track and animated the exciting battle for third with Garfias, Pearson (Nielsen Motorsport) and Barrichello that entertained the fans in the last laps. In the close fighting, Garfias fell victim of some rubbing, eventually finishing tenth, while Barrichello won the podium position ahead of Pearson, and de la Torre finished eighth after the penalty was added to his race time.
British-Vypriot rookie Nikos Micouris (Nielsen) made the top five in his debut ahead of the two BVM’s rookies, Alessandro Famularo and Enzo Yeh.