Alexander Smolyar took his first victory in the Formula Renault Eurocup from pole position in a rain-disrupted rain second race at Monza.
The R-ace GP driver led the pack as the race started under the safety car, with racing not getting underway until nine minutes into the 30-minute race.
When it did, however, the safety car came back out before the end of the first green flag lap due to two separate collisions, one of which involved JD Motorsport’s Ugo de Wilde, who had won the opening race on his Eurocup debut.
Smolyar comfortably kept hold of the race lead during the two following restarts with 12 minutes and two minutes remaining, eventually crossing the line at the end with a 1.982s gap to second-placed Victor Martins.
The Renault driver – who started the race in third – was able to get by MP Motorsport team-mate Lorenzo Colombo at the second race restart after an inside pass into the first chicane.
While he tried to make a move on the final restart he wasn’t able to make it stick but was able to create a gap to Colombo, who rounded out the podium positions.
Smolyar’s team-mate Oscar Piastri and M2 Competition’s Kush Maini finished fourth and fifth respectively in the same places they qualified in, with Leonardo Lorandi crossing the finish line behind them in sixth.
Caio Collet was able to make his way up to seventh place from ninth at the final restart and ahead of Arden’s Patrik Pasma, who started on the same row of the grid as Collet in 10th.
MP Motorsport’s Amaury Cordeel and Sebastian Fernandez for Arden completed the top 10, with Fernandez getting by Joao Vieira during the final two minutes of the race.