Moreno Sirica was the main beneficiary of the collision between Fluke and Collins, taking pole position for the feature race alongside Fluke. However the Williams driver got the worst start of the front three and found himself behind Fluke before the first turn. Soenen then passed the Italian driver into turn three, and Sanchez made it three by the end of the lap. After an excellent first race Caruso was slipping back, while rookie Gustavo Ariel was moving in the other direction as he climbed up into the top six – at Sirica’s expense – on lap six.
At the front, Fluke was soon a sitting duck for Sanchez, with the two ART-run entries going side-by-side through turn three. Pinto took advantage of Fluke being out of position to grab second, and the two started to pull away over the next few laps. Surprisingly Ariel was now in the top five, after getting past 2020 champion Job in turn three, and lined up Fluke for the exact same move on lap 12 to get onto the cusp of the podium – and as Sanchez and Pinto battled for the lead ahead, Soenen, Ariel, and Campbell were all now on the same piece of road.
An incredible few laps saw the lead switch between Sanchez and Pinto, before it all boiled over approaching the end of lap 17. Pinto sent in a pass through turn nine, which saw Sanchez respond in kind at turn ten; Pinto ended up running wide and falling down to the back of the top five, and with Sanchez also slowed a little it was Ariel that would take the lead.
Incredibly Ariel then dragged clear, perhaps aided a little by Sanchez, Campbell, and Soenen battling to be the head of the queue behind him. Pinto wasn’t done yet either, passing Soenen and Campbell on the penultimate lap to get back onto the podium. But nobody could catch the Brazilian rookie, who secured his first ever race win – and the first for any rookie driver – by almost a full second. With Caruso recovering from several incidents to place 12th, he leads the table at the halfway stage by 31 points from Charlie Collins, with Pinto a point further back.
Round 5 Feature Race Results
1. Gustavo Ariel (TXC Racing) - 20 laps
2. Alejandro Sánchez (Stormforce ART) - +0.916s
3. Diogo C. Pinto (Team Redline) - +1.506s