Photo: Eric Alonso / DPPI
Robert Shwartzman started his career as a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy in style with a dominant display in the opening Formula Renault Eurocup race at Barcelona.
After setting a record pace in qualifying, the R-ace GP drove a faultless race, finishing over three seconds clear of team-mate Will Palmer.
?Everything went really good. It feels good to be a FDA driver and win your first ever race with them,? he said.
Palmer is the only driver who can prevent Josef Kaufmann Racing driver Sacha Fenestraz from winning the title this weekend, and took the title into Sunday by finishing second with Fenestraz in fourth, reducing the gap between the two drivers from 52.5 to 46.5 points with 50 points still available.
Briton Palmer initially tucked in behind his team-mate but found himself coming under pressure from Gabriel Aubry as the race went on.
The Tech 1 Racing driver was prone to lockups, and nearing the end of the race he lost several seconds to Palmer.
Fenestraz qualified third and finished fourth after a cautious start let Aubry through. He withheld Max Defourny for the position until the Belgian came under attack from Red Bull junior Richard Verschoor.
Verschoor made his move at Turn 1 on the final lap, by which point Fenestraz had given himself some breathing room and therefore finished an unopposed fourth.
Verschoor?s fellow Red Bull junior and MP Motorsport team-mate Neil Verhagen finished seventh, ahead of Eurocup debutant and British Formula 4 star Logan Sargeant, Charles Milesi and Raul Guzman.
Verschoor won the rookie classification, as the rookie championship contenders had nightmares. Chinese driver Yifei Ye finished 14th thanks to a lack of pace, while Mclaren Autosport BRDC Award candidates Dan Ticktum and Max Fewtrell finished 22nd and retired respectively after a trip through the gravel and a puncture sustained from a collision.
Race results (16 laps)
1 Robert Shwartzman R-ace GP 27m51.529s
2 Will Palmer R-ace GP +3.273s
3 Gabriel Aubry Tech 1 +8.485s
4 Sacha Fenestraz Josef Kaufmann +10.394s
5 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport +11.448s
6 Max Defourney R-ace GP +12.909s
7 Neil Verhagen MP Motorsport +14.890s
8 Logan Sargeant R-ace GP +18.878s
9 Charles Milesi R-ace GP +19.297s
10 Raul Guzman R-ace GP +22.040s
11 Thomas Randle AVF +22.590s
12 Aleksandr Vartanyan JD Motorsport +23.275s
13 Henrique Chaves AVF +23.681s
14 Yifei Ye Josef Kaufmann +25.071s
15 Thomas Maxwell Tech 1 +25.292s
16 Axel Matus AVF +29.729s
17 Zane Goddard Arden +30.076s
18 Jarno Opmeer MP Motorsport +31.242s
19 Aleksey Korneev Fortec +31.411s
20 Alex Peroni Fortec +31.780s
21 Xavier Lloveras AVF +35.264s
22 Dan Ticktum Arden +36.170s
23 Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer JD Motorsport +39.256s
24 Presley Martono Mark Burdett +42.098s
25 Ghislain Cordeel Arden +44.204s
26 Frank Bird Fortec +44.676s
27 Sun Yue Yang JD Motorsport +44.733s
28 Najiy Razak Fortec +52.385s +52.385s
29 Julia Pankiewicz Mark Burdett +52.678s
30 Luis Leeds Josef Kaufmann + 52.764s
Ret Max Fewtrell Tech 1
Ret Thomas Neubauer
Pole: Shwartzman, 1m41.974s
Fastest Lap: Shwartzman, 1m43.714s
Championship Standings
1 Fenestraz 324.5 2 Palmer 278 3 Shwartzman 242 4 Defourney 240 5 Aubry 224 6 Fewtrell 146 7 Ticktum 128 8 Ye 103.5 9 Peroni 67 10 Verschoor 64