Taylor Barnard held off Christian Mansell to win the Formula 3 Feature race at Spa in Belgium as the weather again played havoc.
It was a race dominated by tyre selection, with those gambling on slicks paying dearly.
The race start was delayed before the field pulled away behind the Safety Car for a rolling start – necessary as rain fell moments before the race start.
It gave drivers a dilemma; remain on slicks or switch to wets. It was a decisive choice, with the grooved rubber clearly the better option.
Pepe Marti headed the field away on slicks while Paul Aron scythed up the order as the field rounded La Source for the first racing lap.
His march forward continued on the Kemmel Straight as those on wets made rapid progress.
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That saw Mansell, who’d started 24th, rise to third by Lap 4, though Aron had scampered clear in the lead to the tune of more than eight seconds.
However, that was eliminated in a heartbeat as Oliver Goethe hit the barrier at Eau Rouge.
Unharmed, the crash drew the Safety Car which bunched the pack and saw race leader Aron dive into the lane to swap from wets to slicks.
That left Barnard out front ahead of Mansell, with Nikita Bedrin running third.
At the Lap 8 restart, Mansell harried the gearbox of the race leader but could find no way through as the drying track continued to favour the wet-shod runners.
The leading duo continued their battle until Mansell went long at Les Combes as he tried to steal the lead on Lap 13.
It wasn’t to be; the Australian was forced to settle for second with Bedrin third.
Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto challenged Franco Colapinto in the final laps in an effort to wrap up this year’s title but was unable to make it stick.
He crossed the line 11th, just outside the points, with Colapinto 10th to ensure the championship fight goes on to the final round in Monza.
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