Brazil´s driver takes lights-to-flag victory ahead of Stern (Motul Team West-Tec) and Kanamaru (Emilio de Villota Motorsport). Tereschenko took 4th place with Pulcini (DAV Racing) fifth and the latter claiming another rookie win
Final day of action at the Red Bull Ring for the Euroformula Open with another closely-fought race. Sunday morning saw plenty of excitement with one of the closest qualifying sessions ever in the series. Twelve drivers were able to come within a second of Vitor Baptista´s pole position time, and three of them, Yarin Stern (Motul Team West-Tec), Yu Kanamaru (Emilio de Villota Motorsport) and Tanart Sathienthirakul (Motul Team West-Tec) less than half a tenth off the pace. Baptista, again pretty quick at the wheel of his RP Motorsport Dallara F312, scored another extra point for the drivers´ standings.
At the start, Baptista managed to keep first place ahead of Stern, Kanamaru and Tereschenko, who gained one place before the end of the opening lap at the expense of Sathienthirakul. Leonardo Pulcini (DAV Racing), after scoring his maiden win in the series yesterday, was another driver moving through the field and after just two laps the Italian was 6th ahead of Mexicans Diego Menchaca (Campos Racing) and José Manuel Vilalta (Emilio de Villota Motorsport).
The lap times were extremely close with the top six almost separated by a few seconds after the first half of the race. Gradually improving his pace, Baptista was pulling away on lap 12, now two seconds ahead of Stern. Kanamaru was in the Stern´s slipstream and Tereschenko, despite his efforts and getting some purple sectors, was losing ground at the end and Pulcini an emerging threat behind.
Setting the fastest lap on the penultimate lap, Baptista secured race win crossing the finish line ahead of Stern and Kanamaru. Stern proved to be a tough rival for Kanamaru, and the Asian driver couldn´t pass him for second. Tereschenko came 4th and Pulcini fifth. Sathienthirakul was 6th but the Thai probable was expecting something else on the track after his brilliant performance in the morning. Menchaca brought 7th home and second among the rookies, only beaten by Pulcini, and Damiano Fioravanti (RP Motorsport) was 8th. Igor Walilko (RP Motorsport) finished ninth and, most importantly, third rookie classified after overtaking Vilalta in the final few laps. At least Vilalta scored his first point in the series by finishing tenth.
The Euroformula Open resumes in September at Spa-Francorchamps, after the summer break, with Tereschenko on 186 points, only eleven clear of Baptista.
