Estoril EF Open: Aitken thwarts Pulcini to take maiden win
Renault academy driver Jack Aitken took a lights-to-flag victory in the second race of the EuroFormula Open weekend, beating Race 1 winner Leonardo Pulcini at Estoril.
Photo by: GP3 Series Media Service
After clinching pole earlier on Sunday, the British-Korean driver got off the line at ease, taking a commanding lead from front-row starter Pulcini.
Aitken then controlled the 19-lap race, taking his maiden EF Open win, with Race 1 winner Pulcini 9.256s adrift.
The final podium position went to Damiano Fioravanti, as the fight for fourth raged on between Diego Menchaca and Colton Herta.
The race-long battle saw the Mexican soaking in the pressure from the American, as they crossed the line 0.226s apart.
After a first-lap retirement in the first race, Tatiana Calderon was on pace in the second race, as she finished sixth.
The Colombian cleared Ferdinand Habsburg at the start, with the Austrian then setting out after the Teo Martin driver, before making a mistake at Turn 2, going off, onto the grass and dropping down to ninth.
Fortec driver Igor Walilko, who made up eight places in Saturday’s race, ended up seventh. The Polish driver closed in on Calderon towards the end, but was left with little time to attack.
Julio Moreno ended up eighth ahead of Habsburg at ninth, while Keyvan Andres completed the top 10 in a fairly incident-free race at the Portuguese circuit.
Race 2 results:
| Pos | Driver | Car/Engine | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jack Aitken |
Dallara/Toyota | 30'08.185 |
| 2 |  Leonardo Pulcini |
Dallara/Toyota | 9.256 |
| 3 | Damiano Fioravanti |
Dallara/Toyota | 10.964 |
| 4 |  Diego Menchaca |
Dallara/Toyota | 15.930 |
| 5 |  Colton Herta |
Dallara/Toyota | 16.156 |
| 6 |  Tatiana Calderón |
Dallara/Toyota | 21.910 |
| 7 |  Igor Walilko |
Dallara/Toyota | 24.852 |
| 8 |  Julio Moreno |
Dallara/Toyota | 27.043 |
| 9 |  Ferdinand Habsburg |
Dallara/Toyota | 27.626 |
| 10 |  Keyvan Soori |
Dallara/Toyota | 30.574 |
| 11 |  Kang Ling |
Dallara/Toyota | 32.046 |
| 12 |  Ameya Vaidyanathan |
Dallara/Toyota | 34.636 |
| 13 |  Kusiri Kantadhee |
Dallara/Toyota | 39.313 |
| 14 | Hong Li Ye |
Dallara/Toyota | 41.191 |
| 15 | Tanart Sathienthirakul |
Dallara/Toyota | 42.216 |
| 16 |  Nikita Zlobin |
Dallara/Toyota | 42.952 |
| 17 | Danylo Pronenko |
Dallara/Toyota | 50.477 |
| 18 | Daniele Cazzaniga |
Dallara/Toyota | 51.512 |
| 19 |  Petru Florescu |
Dallara/Toyota | 1'00.659 |
| 20 | Jose Manuel Vilalta |
Dallara/Toyota | 1'07.765 |
| 21 |  Gulhuseyn Abdullayev |
Dallara/Toyota | 1'09.286 |
| Ret | Antoni Ptak |
Dallara/Toyota |
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