Jones triumphs in second F3 Open race at Spa

Photo: FOTOSPEEDY

Ed Jones took a crucial F3 Open win at Spa-Francorchamps, narrowly beating standings leader Sandy Stuvik.

The race start saw two major incidents. At first, Santiago Urrutia ended up flipping his car and landing upside down?in Les Combes later a collision, which brought out the safety car. With the drives braking heavily for the emerging yellow flags, chaos then ensued with a major accident forcing eight drivers to retire on the spot, with one of them – Nicholas Pohler – who also went airborne. The race was briefly red-flagged, and, fortunately, all of the drivers escaped unharmed.

After the restart, Jones surged into the lead, proceeding to hold on to first until the checkered flag.? Stuvik secured second place, closely followed by fellow title contender Nelson Mason.

Alexandre Cougnaud put in an impressive recovery drive, gaining nine positions during the race and running the second fastest lap of the race, while Yarin Stern took fifth after passing Alex Toril on the last couple of laps.

Artur Janosz, Gerardo Nieto and Che One Lim took their first top ten finishes, with the Mexican also securing his maiden Copa class victory, as he managed to hold Lim back for eighth overall on the final lap.? Vicky Piria completed the top ten.

In the standings, Stuvik leads Jones with 202 points to the Team West-Tec’ driver’s 194. Mason sits third with 153, with Urrutia six points behind in fourth. In the Copa Class, Richard Gonda and Cameron Twynham occupy the top two spots in the championship, both with 68 points.

Race results