De Vos wins Fuji slip-n-slide

Although the skies had cleared before the start, the track remained damp, leaving the drivers a real dilemma. Polesitter Bozga went for slicks, while Paulick, who had bumped onto the outside of the front row in the final seconds, went for wets.

When the green light went out, Bozga held his lead as the field cleanly streamed out of Turn 1, only to run wide into Turn 3, handing the lead to Paulick. Meanwhile, Hovesen and Pedersen, who had started seventh and 10th, respectively, also gambled on the wets and broke into the top three as those on slicks scrambled for grip.

But by lap 9, Bozga, now running seventh, was eating into Paulick’s lead, setting the fastest lap of the race, over five seconds quicker than the German, whose mirrors were full of Hovesen and Pedersen.

Within six laps, Bozga sliced through the wet tyre-shod runners before breezing by Paulick to take the lead on lap 15 with Mihai Neg repeating the Belgian’s heroics one lap later to take second.

But with the dark clouds returning later in the race, Bozga couldn’t afford to relax as the pitstop window opened on lap 19. Neg remained on slicks while de Vos changed to wets, hoping the rain would arrive.

Bozga had tried to play the long game, but with the rain coming down at full pelt, the Belgian conceded defeat and stopped for wets on lap 23. However, staying out longer hadn’t worked for Bozga, who rejoined the race behind the now net-race leader de Vos, while Igor Kos, who briefly tried to get to the finish on slicks, crashed on lap 24.

Although Bozga held second from Pedersen after a tense late-race battle, neither could catch de Vos, who streaked home to take his first win in the CRS, and the first for Porsche.

For Paulick, Fuji promised to be a strong race, only for it to unravel late on, and he was involved in two incidents. After a difficult Silverstone meeting where he dropped to 11th in the final classification, Paulick’s fortunes looked to have turned as he found himself second on the grid after timing his final lap perfectly.

Paulick’s decision to start on wets looked to be an inspired decision as he took the lead from Bozga and pulled out a gap of just under a second from Hovesen and Pedersen. However, as the track dried, the wets fell apart, and Paulick was caught by the slick runners, dropping to fifth by lap 17. Paulick’s workload was increased with a spin on lap 18, plummeting him down to 11th before his pitstop on lap 19, where he went for a set of wets.

Earlier in the race, Paulick and Pedersen had been running in the top three but by lap 20 they were banging door handles for 10th. The pair then made contact at the exit of Turn 1, putting the Dane onto the grass and costing the German time, fortunately without hitting the barriers.

Nonetheless, Paulick moved up to seventh in the final laps, but there was one more incident as he and Cosford collided on lap 24 on Turn 6. Miraculously, both drivers were able to carry on to the flag, finishing eighth and ninth.

Witvoet had made a mockery of the Silverstone meeting, leading nearly every lap of the race from pole position, but Fiji proved to be a complete nightmare for the Dutchman.

With the track ramping up in the final seconds, Witvoet tumbled from fifth to 11th on the grid, putting him deep in the midfield and with a lot to do. But any hope Witvoet had of making his way through the field took a severe blow when he was tapped from behind by Kyle Domark at Turn 7, with the American eliminated due to front right suspension damage.

"Witvoet did claw his way back up to 12th by lap 6, only to find himself clipped from behind by Woodrow two laps later, ending his race and relinquishing the championship lead."

Joining Witvoet and Domark on the sidelines were Federico Alberti and Konrad Kula, who crashed out on lap 5.