Howson and Suzuki made better starts than Vervisch allowing all three to enter the first turn side by side, Suzuki on the inside and Howson on the outside. Suzuki locked up and ran wide allowing Vervisch to slice past at the apex whilst Howson ran out of road on the exit and was forced on to the grass. Whilst Vervisch drove away, Suzuki ran wide at turn three allowing Howson alongside. The Brazilian was just able to keep Howson at bay for the remainder of the lap, their battle allowing Vervisch to draw away.
Leonardo Valois spun on the exit of the final turn giving the following Hermoso and Kalpakiotis a fright. Valois rejoined only to spin into the gravel at turn five. Up front Vervisch controlled the gap back to Suzuki to the flag whilst Suzuki had opened up a good lead from Howson. Ed Pead was a similar distance behind his fellow Silverstone Race School instructor. However at half distance Howson suddenly slowed with a suspected fuel pump failure allowing Ed Pead to take third place. Peter Kalpakiotis was the Promotions Class winner.
Vervisch celebrated his win and championship victory with some exuberant ‘doughnuts’, much to the delight of the crowd although not of the stewards who relieved him of three hundred dollars!
Vervisch can now look forward to his test drive with Force India, the prize for winning the championship. He was presented with his prize by Susumu Koumi of TOM’S Toyota. Vervisch finished the year with 322 points from Matt Howson on 229 points and Rafael Suzuki with 221 points. Team Goddard are the team champion.
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