David Bozga looked to have ended his bad luck streak with a dominant victory at Monza, only to lose the race in the stewards' room. On track, Bozga had a perfect weekend converting pole position to what appeared to be a maiden Crown Racing Series victory, only to drop to second in the final results for a pitlane infringement.
Bozga’s penalty handed Youp de Vos his first series win after finishing second on track, where he fended off championship leader Nicolai Pedersen in the closing laps.
Balzas Erdelyi kept his title hopes with another fourth place ahead of Igor Kos and Ryan Woodrow, who returned to the top six.
Bozga’s welcome tonic gets taken away
After two successive non-scores at Daytona and Spa Francorchamps, Bozga arrived at Monza with a point to prove and a desire to end his barren run of results.
Bozga duly delivered, taking pole position before avoiding the opening lap chaos and quickly building a gap over de Vos and Pedersen.
Once he completed his mandatory pitstop on lap 14, Bozga had little to worry about and duly cruised home to seal the victory on the road.
However, the agony returned with a vengeance as the stewards deemed Bozga to have committed a pitlane violation, dropping him a place and handing the win to de Vos.
Pedersen extends his lead as de Vos’ title hopes are revived
Bozga’s penalty came as good news for de Vos, as he not only secured his maiden win but also kept the pressure on Pedersen in the title race. With the Porsches expected to be more of a threat at Monza, de Vos was able to qualify fourth and ran third despite making contact with Gregory Hovesen at the start. Next up on de Vos’ list was Pedersen, and the Dutchman passed the Dane for second on lap 5 as they set about hunting down Bozga.
Three laps later, Pedersen regained second, but just as he was starting to build momentum, the Dane was hit with a slow-down penalty on lap 14, putting him back behind de Vos.
To try and retake second, Pedersen went one lap longer than de Vos before making his stop on lap 15, and the gamble initially worked as he leapfrogged him out of the pits. However, de Vos didn't give up the chase, and two laps later, he regained second, where he stayed until the chequered flag while Pedersen extended his championship lead with third.
With de Vos gaining the victory after the flag, Pedersen goes into the season finale with a 20-point cushion over Erdelyi and a 26-point lead over de Vos heading into the season finale in Brazil.
Neo & Hovesen in the wars
Monza was a massive missed opportunity for Hovesen and Dani Neo, with both drivers failing to crack the podium after two incident-packed races.
Having lost a second victory on the road at Spa, Hovesen tried to make instant ground from second on the grid by putting pressure on polesitter Bozga at the start. But a tap from de Vos sent Hovesen over the kerbs at the Rettifilo, causing him severe rear-end damage that lost the Canadian several positions as he tried to wrestle his wounded Mustang.
Hovesen and Neo then found themselves locked together as they approached the Rettifilo at the beginning of lap 2, where they made contact, sending both into the gravel trap and dropping them out of the top 10.
Hovesen’s damage limitation mission nearly ended on lap 6 when Konrad Kula tapped into him on the start-finish straight, with the Canadian’s quick reflexes preventing what could have been a hideous shunt. The pair collided again into the Rettifilo, and this time it was the Pole who came unstuck as he became the latest visitor to Monza’s vast gravel traps.
Neo, meanwhile, was also trading paint with other drivers as he made contact with Alexander Paulick on the rundown to the Variante Roggia, forcing the Spaniard to straightline the corner.
The damage, coupled with a technical issue, destroyed Neo's race, who retired with just under 10 left to run. Meanwhile, Hovesen nursed his worse-for-wear Mustang to finish sixth at the flag, only to receive a three-place penalty, dropping him to ninth.