Egozi Extends Championship Lead in Jerez
The American driver took an eighth race victory of the Eurocup-3 season at Jerez.
Starting Race 1 on pole was championship leader James Egozi with Thomas Strauven starting alongside him on the front row. Side by side went Egozi and Strauven with the Palou Motorsport driver keeping the lead.
Into the barrier went the Hitech of Gino Trappa with a rear right puncture, Cota had also lost a few places with some front wing damage. Yellow flags were waved for the car of Barbuy after having gone into the gravel and rotating into a wall, a safety car was deployed, neutralising the grid. Back to green flag conditions with over 16 minutes to go, an exceptional restart from Egozi.
Once more, yellow flags were waved, this time for the Palou Motorsport of Bianca Bustamante, a second safety car deployment of the race. For the second time, the drivers went back racing from a safety car restart, with Strauven staying behind Egozi, attempting to close in the gap. Panetta started tumbling down the order, and with 3 minutes to go, the safety car was back on track.
Inevitably, the race finished under the safety car with Egozi taking an eighth victory of the season. Strauven took a maiden podium and Tarnvanichkul took a third place finish.
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