Top five finish in Moscow Race 1 for I.S.R. and Jaafar

Jazeman Jaafar and ISR crossed the line of the first race of F.Renault 3.5’s Russian round in fifth place, bagging useful points that allowed the Malaysian talent to strengthen his fifth place in the Drivers Standings. Seventh in qualifying, a session that was very challenging due to low track temperatures, Jaafar did even better in the race, delivering a very consistend drive that allowed him to make the most of mistakes from some of his rivals in the race to the championship. Gasly and Rowland, in particular, stalled their cars at the start, while a perfect getaway allowed Jaafar to enter Turn 1 in fifth place. From then on Jazeman focused on pushing as hard as possible to put 4th placed Merhi under pressure hoping for him to make a mistake, the only chance for a passing manoeuvre on a narrow and twisty track such as Moscow Raceway. Jaafar’s chase was relentless, but in the end Jazeman has to settle for fifth place, a good position that adds more points to his championship tally.

Jazeman Jaafar: Q1 – P7; R1 – P5

“It was quite a good day compared to yesterday. We made a lot of progress with the car’s setup and the race itself wasn’t bad at all. I had a very good start but unluckily I got stuck behind Fantin in Turn 1, while Merhi took the outside line and managed to pass me. From then on I tried to put a lot of pressure on him but he didn’t do any mistake and this track doesn’t offer any overtaking chance, so I had to stick with P5. It’s not bad because it brings us good points on a day in which many of my rivals didn’t score a single point, so I’m quite satisfied. We can still find some more pace for tomorrow, that will be our focus now”.