Liam Lawson beat fellow Red Bull junior Yuki Tsunoda to victory in the final Euroformula Open race of the season at Monza, and the last for the Dallara F317 car.
Motopark driver Lawson secured second in the overall standings and the rookie title with his win, after Teo Martin Motorsport’s Lukas Dunner only scored a few points once again.
Poleman Teppei Natori led the first couple of laps for Carlin, eventually conceding the lead to an overtake by Lawson at the first chicane. Having spread out early on, the front cars then bunched up again after that, with Natori’s Christian Hahn and Motopark?s Marino Sato and Tsunoda getting involved.
Sato attacked Natori for second place for some time, but Hahn looked to be faster and he then took over third place. Tsunoda, from 10th on the grid, was even faster and he soon moved into the podium places and started pressuring the leaders.
He passed Natori and then made it around the outside of team-mate Lawson at the second chicane not long after, but didn’t have an opportunity to pull away as the safety car was called out.
Hahn had gone wide at Lesmo 2 and returned to the circuit in the path of Double R’s Jack Doohan, who was pitched sideways then into a roll after his car dug into the grass. Both drivers emerged unscathed, although Doohan appeared heavily winded.
Only two laps remained when racing resumed, with Billy Monger tapping Carlin team-mate Nicolai Kjaergaard out of the race shortly before the safety car headed to the pits. .
Lawson took the lead at the restart, then fended off attacks from Tsunoda to take victory. Double R?s Linus Lundqvist almost passed Natori for third at the start of the last lap, but had to settle for fourth and admit defeat to Lawson in their rookie title fight.
Sato finished fifth, while a frantic last two laps resulted in championship debutant Kyle Kirkwood matching RP Motorsport?s best result of the season in sixth, and Motopark?s Niklas Krutten finishing in seventh after punting off Fortec Motorsports? Calan Williams at Ascari.
Eighth place for Lukas Dunner meant the Teo Mart?n Motorsport driver conceded second in the standings to Lawson, while Carlin?s Ido Cohen and Drivex School?s Rui Andrade provisionally completed the top 10.
Race results (16 laps)
| Pos | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liam Lawson | Motopark | 25m09.431s |
| 2 | Yuki Tsunoda | Motopark | +0.392s |
| 3 | Teppei Natori | Carlin | +1.352s |
| 4 | Linus Lundqvist | Double R Racing | +1.670s |
| 5 | Marino Sato | Motopark | +1.723s |
| 6 | Kyle Kirkwood | RP Motorsport | +3.835s |
| 7 | Niklas Krutten | Motopark | +3.889s |
| 8 | Lukas Dunner | Teo Martin Motorsport | +5.571s |
| 9 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | +5.655s |
| 10 | Rui Andrade | Drivex School | +7.688s |
| 11 | Calan Williams | Fortec Motorsports | +8.496s |
| 12 | Lorenzo Ferrari | RP Motorsport | +9.622s |
| 13 | Filip Kaminiarz | Drivex School | +10.239s |
| 14 | Billy Monger | Carlin | +11.192 |
| 15 | Nicolai Kjaergaard | Carlin | +3 laps |
| Ret | Christian Hahn | Carlin | |
| Ret | Jack Doohan | Double R Racing | |
| Ret | Cameron Das | Motopark | |
| Fastest lap: Das, 1m43.965s Championship standings 1 Sato 309? ?2 Lawson 179? ?3 Dunner 178? ?4 Tsunoda 151? ?5 Lundqvist 145? ?6 Natori 115? ?7 Kjaergaard 111? ?8 Julian Hanses 98? ?9 Monger 88? ?10 Hahn 84 Rookie standings |
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