Joffert had been quick throughout the event, topping the practice session and taking pole during qualifying. However, a mistake on the opening lap on cold tires dumped him down to 7th position, leaving Ryan Carabott and Dean Vella to battle for the lead. Vella, however, had more pace and overtook Carabott within a handful of laps.
Further down the field, Joffert provided all the entertainment, recovering from 7th to 4th within the first 5 minutes of racing. Before long he worked his way up to Andrea Rizzo in 3rd and dove down the inside of turn 1 to reclaim his podium spot. He did not stay in 3rd for very long though, as he used his pace advantage to scythe past Carabott and begin hunting down Dean Vella for the lead.
To his credit, Vella defended valiantly from Joffert. Unfortunately, a slow pitstop for Vella drained the 5 second gap he built in the early stage of the race and brought Joffert close enough to challenge. After 10 minutes of trying to get within DRS, Joffert finally made a move stick at turn 3, before pulling a decent gap to Vella.
That was not the end of the story, however, as Vella kept his head down and slowly worked his way to within a second of Joffert, giving him a second chance at the victory. He tried three different overtakes but made two crucial mistakes that stunted his progress and gave Joffert enough of a gap to retain the lead until the flag.
Joffert, after a dismal start, won the race by barely a second ahead of Vella, with Carabott quietly holding on to the final podium position.
World Pro Racing