Jordan King went into the final race of the MRF F2000 season at the MMRT circuit on Sunday, 14 points clear of nearest rival Conor Daly, but his title hopes were doused by a first corner incident that saw him spin off the track and fall to the back of the grid while a smooth start saw Daly occupy the second spot.
As the race progressed, King worked his way up the grid, but Daly moved into the lead and the 18-year-old British driver couldn't find a way past the mid-runners to finish seventh.
The win saw Daly, son of former F1 driver Derek Daly, pocket the title with 164 points, five clear of King. Earlier, in an incident-packed opening race, which saw two major collisions and had three starts, King did his title chances no harm with a composed drive to win two seconds clear of pole-sitter Jon Lancaster. Josh Hill rounded out the podium.