Harrison Scott drove his way to a second victory of the season at the Red Bull Ring in a controlling performance in which he occupied the top spot from lights to flag. Max Defourny launched a stellar challenge from third on the grid to catch the Brit but ultimately second was the best he could do. Norris claimed rookie victory in 3rd, followed by Will Palmer and Alexey Korneev further down the top 10.
Scott had a clean start, keeping ahead of championship leader Norris – the latter quickly dropping into the clutches of Defourny. Also falling back was Dorian Boccolacci, who went from 5th to 7th before spending the opening laps recovering his position. While the young Frenchman set about climbing the order, Defourny pulled off a move on the inside of Norris for second and set about reeling in the escaping Scott who was already seconds up the road.
The only retiree was Robert Schwartzmann, who pulled into the pits early on. Palmer, who’d been clinging onto P4, was unable to withstand the pressure from a storming Boccolacci, and the FFSA academy driver glided past the Brit on the inside as he ran wide.
From then on the majority of the action was found further down the order out of the points, with Vasily Romanov simultaneously attacking Baptista whilst defending from Allen in 13th, 14th and 15th. Alessandro Perullo’s weekend took a turn for the worst as the Italian spun in an attempt to pull off a move, demoting him to the rear of the field.
The gap at the front was coming down steadily, but the man on a mission had to be Boccolaccci in 4th, who quickly caught up to Norris and spent the latter stages of the race attempting to pass the MSA Formula champion, getting so far as to slide past at Remus before Norris swooped back through on the better line. Max Defourny caught up to the consistently quick Scott, but any attempt to pass was hampered by the clock and a small excursion off track for the Belgian.
The AVF driver crossed the line victorious, with Defourny in 2nd and Norris in 3rd. The championship gap has been reduced thanks to Defourny and Scott’s haul of points, whilst Boccolacci drops back ever so slightly in his fight for the championship.
