It followed a dramatic opening race in Germany this afternoon, which began with a first-corner collision between two championship chasers, Emanuele Olivieri and Sebastian Wheldon, and ended with 20 points covering the top four drivers and 28 points still up for grabs across Sunday’s timetable.

While Wheldon (MP Motorsport) dropped to the back of the field and eventually finished 22nd after he received a 10-second penalty for the opening-lap collision and a further five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an unfair advantage, Olivieri (R-ace GP) retired on the spot.

And with Kean Nakamura-Berta (Prema Racing) and Rashid Al Dhaheri (R-ace GP) finishing second and third respectively behind RPM’s maiden winner Przyrowski, the inaugural FIA FREC title chase has taken another twist.

Despite his early exit, Olivieri continues to top the provisional standings, albeit by a reduced margin of seven points over new second-placed driver Nakamura-Berta. Wheldon has slipped to third, 11 points behind Nakamura-Berta with Al Dhaheri 20 points adrift of Olivieri.

More to follow…