Smolyar dominates first Formula 3 sprint race in Barcelona
Starting on the front row of the grid, Smolyar made light work of Jonny Edgar into Turn 1 with the use of DRS on Lap 4.
Smolyar built a commanding lead at the front, stretching his advantage to over two second as Edgar attempted to defend from the cars behind.
Clement Novalak made an impressive start from sixth on the grid, moving up to fourth with a late lunge into Turn 1 on the opening lap.
Novalak looked to have the superior race pace as he passed Edgar around the outside at Turn 1 on Lap 14, then began his hunt for the lead of the race
Novalak reduced the gap to Smolyar to under 1.5s but his charge was thwarted by a late Safety Car.
The Safety Car was deployed on Lap 19 when Oliver Rasmussen lost control of his car at the final corner, beaching his HWA Racelab in the gravel.
With the race finishing behind the Safety Car, Smolyar was guaranteed the victory ahead of Novalak and Caio Collet, who maintained his starting position of third to complete the podium places.
Logan Sargeant managed to move up to fourth, overtaking Edgar in the closing laps before the Safety Car in a strong first race for Charouz Racing System.
The Safety Car saved Edgar from losing even more places, classifying fifth having started from the reverse grid pole position.
Olli Caldwell was involved in an intense midfield fight with Frederik Vesti, Dennis Hauger
and Victor Martins for much of the race, as the quartet rounded out the top nine.
Matteo Nannini finished tenth, while David Schumacher classified 11th having started from fourth.
Schumacher will start this afternoon’s second sprint race from the front row, with Enzo Fittipaldi taking the reverse grid pole with 12th.
16-year-old Jak Crawford went from 20th to finish 13th, while Jack Doohan endured a frustrating afternoon to finish 17th.
The Trident driver qualified second and thus will start from the front row in Sunday’s feature race.
Click here to find the full Formula 3 sprint race one results from Spain.
