Gilles Magnus and Berkay Besler were on the front row for Race 1 of the Academy Trophy at Varennes, ahead of Marijan Grobenski and Gautier Becq. Besler took the lead ahead of Becq then Ralf Aron was third ahead of Magnus and Adeline Prudent. Maxime Potty lost two positions at the start, but took back Becq in first position on the next lap, Magnus went over the grass after the tower and fell down the ranking.
Besler took the lead on lap three ahead of Aron, Arturo Melgar and Edoardo Tolfo. Potty passed Prudent for sixth position. Pedro Piquet was back in the top 10 ahead of Nathan Hédouin. Aron took the lead on lap 5. The first group of five was very compact, the positions were not going to stay like that, especially as Potty was about to join the party. Three drivers got away in mid-race: Melgar, Becq and Besler.
The trio soon turned into a duo, Besler leader ahead of Becq. Potty took control of the second group, in fourth position, but was still 1.3” off Melgar, in 3rd. Aron tried an optimistic pass at the pylon that lost him several places. Piquet was back down in 13th position. Thinking that winning the title was still possible for him, Melgar was again closing on the leaders in the final laps. Besler won the race ahead Becq and Melgar. Positions also changed in the chase: Grobenski finished 4th, Tolfo 5th, Potty 6th and Prudent 7th. Nathan Hédouin was 11th, and the fastest. Potty was more likely than ever to win the Academy Trophy.
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