23.02.2019

Nobuharu Matsushita took a controlling win in the first Euroformula Open Winter Series race at Paul Ricard, despite making a poor start from pole position.

Carlin team-mate and fellow Honda junior Teppei Natori made a stronger start but still dropped to third behind third Carlin driver Christian Hahn. The Brazilian made chase of Matsushita, but the experienced Japanese driver had the upper hand and pulled away to take a dominant 8.449 second victory. Despite his winning margin, Matsushita admitted the race was not easy.

Formula 3 rookie Natori fell away from Hahn, but won the rookie classification and secured a Carlin podium lockout by holding off Teo Martin Motorsport’s Lukas Dunner and then Campos Racing’s Linus Lundqvist after the latter made a last-lap move on Dunner.

Dunner ended up leading home his Teo Martin team-mates Guilherme Samaia and Aldo Festante in sixth, with Festante glad to get some uninterrupted running after failing to set a lap in qualifying.

Campos’s Alessio Deledda was the last driver on the lead lap, with Carlin’s Nicolai Kjaergaard finishing a lap down after stopping to change his nosecone as a result of breaking his front wing on the first lap. His team-mate Billy Monger also encountered problems on the opening lap which led to the Briton not finishing the race.

The second Winter Series race takes place at 17:25 local time.