Van der Garde win takes title to the wire

Giedo van der Garde survived a late onslaught from Valterri Bottas to take victory in the FF2M Feature Race at Long Beach today and take the Drivers Championship down to tomorrows season finale.

Van der Garde had started from pole position but lost the lead at the start to HorizonF2’s Conor Daly at the first corner with the STV Racing driver unable to pass the American until his pit stop midway through the race. Bottas had been running in third, but stopping a few laps after Van der Garde gave him a tyre advantage when both drivers emerged ahead of Daly. Bottas then closed but was unable to pass as the pair became caught in traffic with the Finn eventually dropping back by a second after being slowed by a backmarker.

Meanwhile championship leader Paul Di Resta rose from 9th on the grid to claim 3rd and retain a narrow lead going into tomorrows Sprint Race.