The first race of the Lamborghini Pro and Pro-Am World Finals featured a thrilling three-way battle, which ended on the final lap with a collision that overturned the standings after the chequered flag.
Danny Formal (Wayne Taylor Racing) got off to a perfect start from pole position, immediately opening a comfortable lead over Will Bamber (TR3 Racing) and Paul Levet (VSR).
The Wayne Taylor Racing driver from Costa Rica immediately attempted to build a good lead over his closest rivals, arriving at the pit stop with enough of a margin to secure first place.
In the first part of the race, the duel between Formal and Bamber was a thrilling one, as they notched up a series of fast laps. The TR3 Racing driver managed to close the gap to Formal, with the two drivers opening up a gap to the rest of the pack behind them.
Luca Segu, ninth overall, held on to the top spot in the Pro-Am standings with the HC by DL Racing Huracan, while Milos Pavlovic, second in class, received a five-second penalty for repeated track limit violations in the first seven laps of the race.
With the pit lane open, Bamber managed to close the gap on Formal to 1.2s before the mandatory stop. Levet was much further back, 10s behind the leaders and followed by Enzo Geraci, a couple of seconds behind.
After the whirlwind of pit stops, Elias de la Torre, Bamber's team-mate, returned to the track at the head of the field, but with Hampus Eriksson (Formal's team-mate) hot on his heels. The two engaged in a thrilling duel for the lead, with Eriksson much faster than the American but held back by his rival's excellent defence for several laps.
On lap 22, Eriksson attempted to overtake de la Torre, but the TR3 Racing man responded by crossing trajectories to keep him behind. Shortly after, the safety car was brought out by a collision that forced Shun Liu Kai to retire and leave the car on the track.
The race resumed on lap 25, with de la Torre managing to hold on to the lead, though he continued to be hounded by Eriksson. Everything happened on the final lap in the battle between de la Torre, Eriksson, and Adam Putera; Eriksson attacked de la Torre, passing him, and Putera also tried to take advantage. But, he rear-ended Eriksson, damaging his Huracan.
Putera remained in front despite the contact with Eriksson, and was able to defend the lead from de la Torre's attacks until the finish line. Eriksson, however, slipped to seventh place after the contact with Putera.
Josef Knopp completed the podium in the Pro category, while in the Pro-Am category, Chris van der Drift (VSR) won ahead of Georgi Dimitrov. Dimitri Enjalbert took third place.
At the end of the first race in the Pro and Pro-Am World Finals, however, the race director investigated Putera's manoeuvre and sanctioned him with a five-second time penalty. This dropped him to second place and promoted de la Torre and Bamber to become Race 1 winners.
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