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Stark made a perfect start holding off an initial attack from Al Qemzi
to the first turn and then held off his relentless challenge for 16 laps
when the yellowflagwas raised after Emirates Racing’sMarit Stromoy
took out two turn buoys, resulting in her disqualification and allowing
the field to bunch up.
The race leader managed the restart to perfection but still had to
contend with Al Qemzi’s persistent pressure, eventually breaking free
in the second half of the race to open up a considerable lead and go on
to take the win.
The pace of the race was ferocious and despite all his efforts, Al Qemzi
was unable to get close enough to force a mistake from the leader.
The yellow flag proved the key moment in the race for Al Hameli who
had been running in fifth place, but at the restart immediately made
the pass on Carella and then his teammate Torrente, who was forced
to retire on lap 22 when his engine let go.
Al Hameli was able to hold off Carella and go on to take his first podium
of the year.
Defending champion Chiappe had a relatively low key race and was
never really in the mix to challenge for a podium finish coming home
in sixth place, his CTIC F1 Shenzhen China teammate Peter Morin
producing a good performance driving up from P16 to finish in tenth
spot.
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F1H2O