February 18, 2025 | Formula Winter Series
Gomez started on pole position for the first race, and moved into an early lead before the first of several Safety Car periods kicked in on lap two. David Walther (Maffi Racing) found the wall at turn four, and Payton Westcott (Van Amersfoort Racing) lost her nosecone.
There were two further Safety Car periods during the race, and each time, Gomez would have to manage the threat from behind, as Hitech’s Leo Robinson sat on his gearbox. Behind them, Kabir Anurag and Maxim Rehm were duelling, in an all-US Racing battle for third which ultimately fell in favour of Rehm.
Leo Robinson could only achieve second – his third visit to the runners-up podium step in four races – but still scored valuable points. Gomez, meanwhile, secured his third win of the season.
Dante Vinci (Van Amersfoort) was displaying a significant uptick in form during testing for the event, and that would translate to sixth overall in the race, as well as the Rookie Trophy victory. Nina Gademan won the Female Trophy for Hitech, after Campos’ Chloe Chambers collided with Thomas Bearman and Artem Severiukhin on the final lap.
After the chequered flag, a disqualification from race one and both qualifying sessions was handed down to Hitech’s Leo Robinson, for a breach of the technical regulations. However, this would be appealed, and the Algerian racer retained his original starting positions for Sunday.
Race 2:
As race two began, Gabriel Gomez had a poor launch from pole position, instantly handing the lead to Leo Robinson. Maxim Rehm also moved through into second, while Hitech’s Fionn McLaughlin also passed the polesitter, dropping Gomez to fourth.
Further back, Maffi Racing’s Teo Borenstein ended up in the gravel, leading to the first safety car deployment of the race.
As the race resumed, Gomez was on the offensive against Fionn McLaughlin at turn two, but the Irishman held his position. Meanwhile, Maxim Rehm was able to carry momentum through turns four and five, and a great exit from turn six allowed Rehm to power past Robinson for the race lead.
Further back, Kabir Anurag – who started tenth – was on a mission to drive through the field. He made an uncompromising move on his teammate Edu Robinson for sixth place at turn two, and followed it up with a lunge on Dante Vinci for fifth at the final corner.
Anurag would stay in that position, but would end up inheriting fourth place as Fionn Robinson was judged to have jumped the start, and received a five-second penalty.
This also promoted Gabriel Gomez to third place, while Leo Robinson had to once again settle for second place.
Maxim Rehm was a race winner for the first time in the Formula Winter Series; a statement result after a disqualification from the Portimao weekend two weekends prior. Dante Vinci inherited the Rookie Trophy win as a result of McLaughlin’s penalty, while Nina Gademan won the women’s trophy in tenth place.
Race 3:
The third race of the weekend started with a gap on the second row, as Edu Robinson started the race from pitlane.
On the front row, Leo Robinson once again had a better start than Gabriel Gomez, running alongside the polesitter through the first corner, before moving the #6 Hitech machine into the lead at turn two.
Robinson would face the challenge of multiple safety car restarts during the race, but stayed clear of Gomez throughout the race to finally secure his first victory of the season. Second place for Gomez ensured that his streak of podium finishes remains intact, while Maximilian Popov rounded out the top three for Van Amersfoort Racing.
Kabir Anurag finished fourth ahead of Dante Vinci, who completed his clean sweep of victories in the Rookie Trophy at Valencia. Chloe Chambers finished 13th overall, winning the Female Trophy just ahead of Nina Gademan.
Half-distance in the 2025 season, and a large question mark looms
As of this writing the biggest question mark of all coming away from the Circuit Ricardo Tormo is the status of Leo Robinson. The Hitech TGR appeal against his race one and qualifying disqualification is still ongoing. If it were to be unsuccessful – given his car was judged to be illegal for qualifying as well as the race – the punishment would likely also extend to race two and three also. Originally, upon his disqualification from Saturday’s action, he would have started both Sunday races from the back of the pack. Instead, he started the races from his original grid position in second place.
Should the appeal be successful, Robinson will have 98 points heading into the third round at Aragon. Gabriel Gomez leads the standings on 132 points, meaning a championship lead gain of just one point across the Valencia weekend. His championship lead will grow exponentially if Robinson’s appeal is unsuccessful, as Van Amersfoort’s Maximilian Popov sits third on 52 points.
