Hunsley takes win
Reigning champion Jack Hunsley looks set for the mission title defense, taking the win at Melbourne. He profited from the retirement of Ben Utzer though, as his gearbox failed right after his one and only stop. Keranen took second place, much to the liking of the Australian fans. Buurlage took 3rd, doing damage limitation for Williams. Pablo Diehl showed a strong race to take 4th, especially in his first stint he made up a lot of positions. Engberink with 5th place, he had a rather quiet race. Man of the race Takahiro Yamaguchi took 6th, as well as the fastest lap. Having started from last position the rookie charged through the field, and rewarded himself with his first career point.
Sigoulakis took 7th, probably losing a better result being shot off the track by Black in the opening laps. Lintner finished 8th, holding off Harvey and Kederer. The Jordan driver suffered problems early in the race, forcing him to make an unscheduled stop. Brugman took 11th place, despite having to pit for a new front wing after crashing with Foro at the start. The McLaren driver wasn't as lucky as he couldn't continue.
Ancevski ended up 12th, he was seen walking around the paddock furiously after a disappointing quali and not that much better race. Goddard finished 13th, ahead of Black and Graham.
7 drivers didn't make it to the end. The afore-mentioned Foro was taken out at the start, Martins, Ishikawa and Wolf all retired within a few laps. The first with an engine failure, the second after spinning off and the third with a gearbox failure. Rinneaho retired from 3rd around the halfway point with an engine failure, as did Laad one lap later. Another lap later it hit Utzer, he was only 9 seconds behind Hunsley after his stop and probably would have retaken the lead after Hunsley's stop.
FIA Press Conference
@Jack Hunsley: Any better way to start the season?
@Aidan Keranen: Delighted about the podium in front of your home crowd?
@Lesley Buurlage: Did you get commands from the pits to slow down a bit after your teammate had run in trouble?
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