FRAC – Race 3: victory for Mini, podium for Hadjar

There will have been two races in one this Sunday, near Abu Dhabi. The first was interrupted after only a few dozen meters due to a crash involving three drivers. At the start, many of them had difficulty taking off from the grid. Among them, Cem Bolukbasi (Evans GP) stalled, and Amna Al-Qubaisi (Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema), who arrived quickly, hit the car of the Turk from the rear, a little in the same configuration as the incident Theo Pourchaire – Enzo Fittipaldi in Jeddah on December 5 in Formula 2. Salih Yoluc (Pinnacle Motorsport) also hit Bolukbasi, but in a less head-on manner. He was forced to retire but was able to leave his car on his own. No information has been released officially but Amna Al Qubaisi said she was doing well on her social media.  

After more than thirty minutes of interruption, time to evacuate the cars and debris, the race resumed under Safety-Car in the order which had been established before the first start. A godsend for Gabriele Mini (Hitech), who had stalled on the grid and who therefore regained the benefit of his pole position. Very quickly, the Italian escaped and was able to manage a considerable advantage of 2 seconds over Jak Crawford. The Italian, lined up for the first two rounds of the season, won his first victory of the year ahead of the American. 

Isack Hadjar (Hitech) won his first podium of the year, thanks to his hard-won third place after a constant battle with the winner of Race 2, the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (3Y Technology). A result which will do the Habs the greatest good, deprived because of its gearbox, of a podium in Race 2 while it was firmly installed in second position. Winner of Race 1 and leader of the championship, Sebastian Montoya (Mumbai Falcons) could not do better than 10th. Involved in incidents during the first two games of the weekend, Hadrien David (3Y Technology) made his first entry into the points (9th).