Alisha Palmowski won the F1 Academy Feature Race in Montreal, with a record-breaking gap of over ten seconds to Emma Felbermayr in second.
With rain falling at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve earlier in the day, the track remained wet, and the grid opted for wet-weather tyres and exercised caution for the Feature Race.
Alisha Palmowski began the race from pole, making a good start as the lights went out, holding onto the lead. Payton Westcott started second but was quickly under pressure from Megan Bruce in third.
Coming off the line, Ella Lloyd climbed through the field, making up places down the inside of the opening corners. As Lloyd was climbing through the field, her front tyre clipped that of Lisa Billard, sending the ART driver spinning. The McLaren-backed driver was under investigation for the incident.
On the way to Turns 13 and 14, the two went side by side, Bruce taking second as they went over the line. Further down the order, Ella Lloyd was racing with Kaylee Countryman, starting in 16th and making it past Countryman to take tenth.
On Lap 4, Nina Gademan was on the gearbox of Alba Larsen running alongside the Ferrari-liveried machinery down to the final corners. Gademan tried to be late on the breaks, but ultimately bailed out running wide on the corner, allowing Larsen to hold her sixth place.
A lap later, Gademan was back on Larsen, this time opting for the inside line and making it past Larsen, who was forced to bail out of the corner in that fight. Larsen’s wide run led to her dropping to ninth.
Palmowski’s lead growing
While the fighting was ongoing across the grid, Palmowski ran briefly wide, the wet conditions proving less than optimal. However, the leader recovered quickly, holding her lead and continuing to build the gap out front.
Larsen, Lloyd and Rafaela Ferreira went three-wide in the final corners on Lap 7, Larsen forced to take another trip through the advertising as Lloyd came out on top of the fight.
In fourth, Emma Felbermayr was closing on Westcott, the gap coming down to just 0.6s. Felbermayr sat second in the championship, and with Palmowski, the championship leader, out front, every point was vital.
On Lap 12, Felbermayr was right on the gearbox of Westcott, the Audi-backed driver looking for an opening on the Mercedes-backed car.
Westcott kept Felbermayr behind her, and on Lap 14, Felbermayr clipped the kerb, slowing her down but keeping her in contention for the position.
Westcott critically ran wide, running through the grass on Lap 14, letting the Audi-backed car through into third. Felbermayr set her sights on second, Megan Bruce only 0.4 seconds away.
However, catching is one aspect, and overtaking is another, and without the aid of DRS in F1 Academy, Felbermayr had to use everything at her disposal to get past.
Bruce suffered a small slip of the rear as she made contact with the wall, slowing down the TAG Heuer car, and Flebermayr took advantage of the incident to take second.
Palmowski crossed the line to take the win with a ten-second gap, with Felbermayr and Bruce finishing the podium. Westcott settled for fourth after fighting the entire race, and Matilda Paatz crossed the line fifth. Alba Larsen ended her campaign in sixth with Gademan and Natalia Granada finishing seventh and eighth.
After intense battles throughout the race, Llyod finished ninth, and Ferreira took the final points position.
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