Renault junior Christian Lundgaard clinched the SMP Formula 4 title with a round to spare at Moscow Raceway despite accidentally serving a drive-through penalty.
As at the previous round at Moscow last month, the Dane won the opening two races of the weekend, leading from pole position to chequered flag on both occasions.
He was on course to make it a hat-trick in the finale but drove through the pits after mis-reading a pit-board instruction meant for another driver.
That meant Lundgaard finished down in 11th, but as closest rival Alexander Smolyar failed to win (instead finishing fifth), he has clinched the title.
After finishing second to Lundgaard in the first two races, Tuomas Haapalainen inherited the race three victory, and is 65 points behind Lundgaard with 65 points still up for grabs, but cannot match his nine wins.
Vladimir Tziortzis had a strong weekend, finishing third in the first two races and upgrading that for second in race three, with Bent Viscaal completing the podium.
Lundgaard’s early season rival Xavier Lloveras was absent after making the step up to Formula Renault, but the series did welcome back Nerses Isaakyan and Nikita Sitnikov, who came third in 2015 and seventh in 2016 respectively. Their best collective result however was Isaakyan’s ninth place in the third and final race.