Leclerc wraps it up in opener
FORMULA REGIONAL ASIAN YAS MARINA (ARE) 19-20 FEBRUARY ROUND 5/5
Ferrari protege Arthur Leclerc secured the title with a dominant pole-to-flag victory in the first race of the final round. In a processional race, Leclerc was shadowed by Ferrari stablemate Dino Beganovic, his team-mate at the Prema-run Mumbai Falcons squad.
Reinforcing the Prema hegemony was Jak Crawford, representing the Italian operation’s Abu Dhabi Racing arm, who held off fellow Red Bull Junior Isack Hadjar (Hitech GP) for third. Pepe Marti was the only person who could overhaul Leclerc’s points total, but he stalled from sixth on the grid and spent his race fighting through to 12th.
The reversed-grid race was much more entertaining. Gabriele Mini snatched the lead in his Hitech car from poleman Pierre-louis Chovet, but was ordered to hand it back due to exceeding track limits. Following a safety car, Patrik Pasma jumped Mini and tried to pass Chovet, but ran both wide. Mini jinked his Hitech car into the lead, just holding off Beganovic, with Leclerc third.
Leclerc had scored points in all 14 races to date heading into the finale, so it was a real eyebrow raiser when he had an unforced spin on lap one. Hadjar and Crawford shared the front row, but a poor start from the Texan left the Francoalgerian free to take victory. Mini claimed second from Paul Aron, who had Crawford swarming from behind.