Finlay McSporran
Published: 16:12, 9th June 2025
Just one point separates the top two in the drivers standings after round three in Zandvoort at the weekend, which saw Pedro Clerot win for the first time, and Freddie Slater take the lead of the championship.
Race 1
Damp conditions greeted the drivers for the first qualifying session which favoured those in group B, as the track dried towards the end of the session.
Brazilian driver Pedro Clerot set the fastest time in group B, almost four seconds faster than Akshay Bohra who topped group A, earning him pole position for race one. Bohra would line up second on the grid with Slater in third.
A great start for Slater allowed him to slice through the middle of the two drivers in front of him, taking the lead into the first corner. Clerot tried to hang with him round the outside of turn one, but Slater left him no room which forced him into the gravel, and nearly lost him second place to Bohra.
Slater would remain in the lead for the rest of the race despite two safety car periods, the first of which was caused by an incident between Edouard Borgna and Aditya Kulkarni, in which the two drivers appeared to be a bit frustrated with each other, as they stood arms crossed and helmets on at the side of the track, separated only by an unfortunate marshal.
The second safety car was deployed after Nikita Bedrin pulled over at the side of the track with a technical issue.
Victory in race one saw Salter close the gap at the top of the standings to just six points to Matteo De Palo, who finished race one in sixth behind title rivals Enzo Deligny and Evan Giltaire, with Bohra and Clerot rounding out the podium.
Race 2
Qualifying for race two saw Van Amersfoort lock out the front row at their home race, with Clerot taking his second pole of the weekend ahead of teammate Hiyu Yamakoshi, with Slater in third once again.
Title rival Evan Giltaire was meant to start from seventh, however he stalled on the grid which meant an extra formation lap and forced him to start from the pit lane. When the race did get underway, a much better start from Clerot allowed him to maintain the lead ahead of Yamakoshi and Slater.
The safety car was deployed on lap three after Tim Gerhards’ pulled over having made contact with F1 Academy’s Doriane Pin the previous lap. Clerot controlled the restart well, and held off his teammate to lead home a Van Amersfoort 1-2 and take his first win in the championship.
There was a scary moment on the last lap as the camera cut to Giovanni Maschio, who was upside-down and in the gravel after a big incident at turn seven. Thankfully the driver was okay and walked away unaided.
Standings:
Two podiums for Freddie Slater sees him now lead the standings by just one point, ahead of Matteo De Palo who had a difficult weekend, recording two sixth places and just 16 points.
Enzo Deligny finished in the top five in both races and sits third in the standings ahead of Giltaire, who failed to score in race two having started from the pit lane, whilst a good weekend for Clerot sees him move up to fifth in the standings.
1 – Slater (83)
2 – De Palo (82)
3 – Deligny (75)
4 – Giltaire (67)
5 – Clerot (65)
Tags:
Blog GP 
Leave a comment