Montreal

A command from the front

There was no ambiguity about the principal business of the afternoon at Gilles Villeneuve. Jayden HW put the Ligier JS35B at the head of the field from the opening lap and was still there when the 47th was complete. It was a victory made in the old, exacting manner: no flourish was required once command had been established, only the continued precision to preserve it. He was recorded as leader at the end of every lap, and reinforced the point with the race's fastest lap, a 1:15.964.

The result carried a weight beyond the immediate honours. With one round remaining in the Championship, Jayden HW heads the table on 187 points. Adam Celárek is second on 164, with Florian Masse's 151 and Potatohedron's 150 keeping the leading quartet closely gathered in the broader reckoning. For the Australian, therefore, this was more than a cleanly administered victory. It was a timely assertion at the head of a season approaching its final judgement.

margar17's return

The most visible movement behind the leader belonged to margar17. The German had been running sixth before an incident on lap five cost him three places, leaving the McLaren MP4/6 ninth. From there, however, he rebuilt the race with considerable purpose.

His path was not an isolated advance through an empty field. Early on, Pete Bondurant's Ferrari 643 was a close and changing companion. margar17 moved ahead before Bondurant reclaimed the advantage, only for the McLaren to regain the place by lap 16. That sequence formed part of the recovery which eventually carried margar17 to second.

Linus Jonsson's Lambo 291 was not far away when the outcome was settled. Jonsson completed the full distance in third, 1.648 seconds behind the McLaren, and the two men gave the podium a properly competitive shape even as Jayden HW remained beyond their reach. For margar17, second place represented a gain of seven positions from his lowest running position and a result of substantial value after the early reverse.

The battle behind

If the leader's race was conducted in clear air, the middle of the front-running order was far less settled. Masse and pitman were closely matched from the early laps, remaining within two seconds of one another for a prolonged spell from lap two to lap 18. Their order changed repeatedly: Masse moved ahead by lap 16, pitman had reclaimed the advantage by lap 20, and Masse was again in front by lap 40.

The contest became part of a three-car group once gilvil77's Ferrari 643 joined them. From laps 24 to 38, Masse, pitman and the Italian ran within five seconds as the Brabham BT60Y, McLaren and Ferrari traded the small advantages that a race of this character permits. Masse lost several places after an incident on lap 20, but remained in the fight and later worked his way back ahead of pitman.

Neither man completed the full 47 laps, so the official record has its own careful wording. Masse was classified fifth after 46 laps, while pitman was classified sixth after 46 laps. Their contest nevertheless supplied much of the race's changing texture once the first three had established themselves.

A varied field settles

Adamike99 brought the second Ligier home fourth, completing the full distance and confirming the strength of the marque's afternoon. Behind the Masse-pitman struggle, Pete Bondurant was classified eighth after 46 laps, while the fighting had reached deeply into the field.

Tom Zeeuw, for instance, made a striking early advance in the Leyton House CG911. Starting 21st, he was 16th by the end of the first lap. By lap 15 he had moved ahead of both vanderspeed and Manu Castagneti, and he was ultimately classified 12th after 45 laps. It was a useful recovery in a race which offered few easy passages and required drivers to take their opportunities when they appeared.