Sprint Race: P8 grid → pre-start issue, pit lane start → P15

The 21-lap Sprint Race (Race 1) started at 10:05 am on Saturday 13 June in dry conditions, with air temperatures of 26°C and track temperatures of 35°C.

With the top 12 from qualifying reversed on the grid, Taito Kato was due to start from eighth. However, he was unable to get away on the formation lap and had to start from the pit lane at the back of the field. Even so, he began to recover at a strong pace from the early stages and had climbed to 23rd out of 30 cars by lap 5.

An incident on track on lap 7 brought out the Virtual Safety Car (VSC), which was then converted into a Safety Car (SC), before the race resumed on lap 11. Kato moved up to 21st on lap 12, but the second SC was deployed shortly afterwards, with the restart coming on lap 17. Although his opportunities to continue the recovery were limited, Kato gained further positions to finish the 21-lap race in 15th.

©Dutch Photo Agency