F V8 3.5 – Orudzhev faster than his shadow

The show of force is final. Starting from 3rd position on the grid behind Alex Palou (Teo Martin Motorsport) and Pietro Fittipaldi (Lotus), who had set exactly the same time during Qualification 2, Egor Orudzhev jumped to get the better of the Brazilian from the first corner . The explanation of the text which will follow, lasting two rounds, will allow Palou to build up a slight and appreciable lead.

Fittipaldi's exit from the track, at the start of the 4th lap, will nevertheless change the appearance of the race. No longer having to look in his mirrors, Orudzhev will only have the sole objective of setting off again to attack Palou. The junction will be quickly made, the Spaniard seeming to have difficulty with his tires due to the stifling ambient heat. So much so that team driver Teo Martin will make the decision to stop on the 7th lap to change his rear tires, as the regulations require during race 2.

This decision will therefore be heavy for Palou, because having the free rein to attack and line up the best laps, Orudzhev will actually come back in front of his opponent after his own stop. From then on, mass was said…

Behind, the spectacle was in order with a first fight between Matevos Isaakyan (SMP Racing) and Diego Menchaca (Fortec Motorsport), the latter quickly managing to take power to move on to third place on the podium. It wasn't over for Isaakyan who, also in distress with overheated tyres, quickly blocked a small group made up of Roy Nissany (RP Motorsport), Alfonso Celis Jr (Fortec) and Konstantin Tereschenko (Teo Martin). There will be no shortage of position exchanges, the most spectacular taking place on the penultimate lap when Issakyan misses braking, opening the door for Nissany and Celis, before Tereschenko also tries his luck, the two cars colliding. If the Israeli takes off but does not suffer any significant damage, conversely the Russian suffers from a distorted front end forcing him to surrender.

In the end, Matevos Isaakyan, 6th at the checkered flag, missed a golden opportunity to catch up on Fittipaldi in the standings before the last round, in Barhein, mid-November. Finally, note that René Binder, winner of race 1 yesterday, failed to reach the depths of the ranking after a technical problem during the formation lap which caused him to enter the race one lap behind.