Doohan wins Spa feature race as Pourchaire retirement boosts Drugovichs points lead | Formula 2
Jack Doohan claimed his third Formula 2 win of 2022, passing Felipe Drugovich for the Spa feature race victory after a successful pit strategy.
Championship leader Felipe Drugovich had claimed pole, with Enzo Fittipaldi starting second and Logan Sargeant third. However, both Fittipaldi and Sargeant had poor starts, allowing Jack Doohan and David Beckmann through from fourth and fifth position and Drugovich to extend an initial lead.
The second-placed driver in the championship Théo Pourchaire, who had started eighth, slowed down along the Kemmel Straight with an unexplained technical problem and retired from the race on lap three.
Liam Lawson moved up to fourth alongside Richard Verschoor, who he followed alongside for much of lap five, but with Lawson ultimately winning out to hold onto the place. Jehan Daruvala was shown the black and orange flag on lap five, forcing him into an early pit stop and out of the chance of significant results.
Doohan pitted on lap 10, his Virtuosi team perfectly executing an undercut strategy on Drugovich and allowing Doohan to take the net lead of the race. Drugovich pitted only a few laps later but was unable to regain the position, choosing not to risk his championship lead with Pourchaire out of the race.
Enzo Fittipaldi and Liam Lawson ended up in a furious battle for tenth place and a net podium position that saw Fittipaldi repeatedly have to hand a position back to Lawson after running off track. Lawson eventually emerged the victor but the fight allowed the leaders to pull away.
Marcus Armstrong was given a five-second time penalty for forcing Dennis Hauger off the track, although at the time of the incident Armstrong had felt Hauger had passed him off-track.
Lirim Zendeli’s Campos stopped on the penultimate lap, prompting a Virtual Safety Car. Doohan’s lead had been largely unchallenged, however, coming across the line 1.8 seconds ahead of Drugovich and with Lawson claiming the final podium position.
Drugovich now has a 43 point lead in the title fight, ahead of back-to-back rounds in Zandvoort and Monza. Doohan’s victory brings him into fourth place, just six points behind Logan Sargeant.
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Formula 2 Spa feature race results
Position
Car
Driver
Team
1
3
Jack Doohan
Virtuosi
2
11
Felipe Drugovich
MP
3
5
Liam Lawson
Carlin
4
20
Richard Verschoor
Trident
5
22
Enzo Fittipaldi
Charouz
6
6
Logan Sargeant
Carlin
7
24
David Beckmann
Van Amersfoort
8
17
Ayumu Iwasa
DAMS
9
8
Juri Vips
Hitech
10
12
Clement Novalak
MP
11
9
Frederik Vesti
ART
12
1
Dennis Hauger
Prema
13
7
Marcus Armstrong
Hitech
14
15
Ralph Boschung
Campos
15
4
Marino Sato
Virtuosi
16
21
Calan Williams
Trident
17
25
Amaury Cordeel
Van Amersfoort
18
23
Tatiana Calderon
Charouz
19
16
Roy Nissany
DAMS
20
2
Jehan Daruvala
Prema
DNF
14
Lirim Zendeli
Campos
DNF
Theo Pourchaire
ART
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Automobilismo: l'Albania accende i motori, pilota e circuito
(ANSA) – BOLOGNA, 04 FEB – Ieri e l’altro ieri l’Albania ha
fatto i primi passi per avvicinarsi all’automobilismo sportivo.
Lirim Zendeli, pilota 23enne nato in Germania, ma con radici
albanesi, è stato invitato dall’ambasciatore italiano a Tirana,
Fabrizio Bucci, nel quadro di un’iniziativa con l’obiettivo di
realizzare un circuito omologato per tutte le categorie
(compresa quindi la F1)…
because i had fun last year, i’m doing this again.
sent the f2 drivers pics to my friend and asked for her impressions (also wanted to see if she remembered their faces from last year) and she weirdly enjoyed doing it??
started doing it before the f2 website changed the pictures + tumblr murdered the quality
Lawson wins sprint race Drugovich extends championship lead with late charge | Formula 2
Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson won the Spa Formula 2 sprint race from fifth on the grid as Felipe Drugovich moved further ahead of Theo Pourchaire in the title race.
Lawson made the most of an exceptional start to take the early lead which he held all race, while a late pit stop for soft tyres under Safety Car allowed Drugovich to move up to fourth place by the chequered flag.
Ralph Boschung had taken partially-reversed grid pole, with Jehan Daruvala set to line up alongside him. However, Daruvala failed to even get as far as the grid, having to pull off track on the lap from the support paddock. Title contender Theo Pourchaire started third, with Richard Verschoor in fourth, behind Daruvala’s empty grid spot.
Liam Lawson, starting fifth, made the best of the start and snatched second place into La Source. Pourchaire fell back as a consequence and found himself overtaken by Verschoor at the top of Raidillon. Lawson stuck with Boschung, overtaking him on the Kemmel Straight to take the lead on lap two.
The fairly processional race continued until Logan Sargeant lost control of his Carlin on the exit of Pouhon, spinning and hitting the barriers, prompting a Safety Car on lap 11. Championship leader Drugovich pitted from eighth to switch for soft tyres, coming back out in 12th position behind team mate Clement Novalak.
When the race restarted on lap 15, Novalak allowed his team mate by into La Source but Drugovich went off at Les Combes while attempting to pass Juri Vips and having to surrender a gained place back to the Hitech driver. Drugovich rapidly recovered, taking advantage of his soft tyres with just three laps left to go to begin moving up the order.
Lawson kept the lead, three seconds ahead of Boschung by the penultimate lap, who was himself a second ahead of third placed Jack Doohan. Behind them, however, Drugovich was unstoppable, moving up to fourth with an overtake on Pourchaire and then hunting down third place on the final lap.
Doohan overtook Boschung on the final lap but the Campos driver was able to stay ahead of Drugovich to the line, while Lawson took the flag with a commanding lead, almost four seconds ahead and also taking fastest lap.
Lawson’s win moves him from eighth to fifth in the championship, displacing fellow Red Bull junior Jehan Daruvala. Drugovich extends his lead over Pourchaire in the standings, now 25 points ahead, while Sargeant’s retirement leaves him trailing by 68 points in third.
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Formula 2 Spa sprint race results
Position
Car
Driver
Team
1
5
Liam Lawson
Carlin
2
3
Jack Doohan
Virtuosi
3
15
Ralph Boschung
Campos
4
11
Felipe Drugovich
MP
5
20
Richard Verschoor
Trident
6
10
Theo Pourchaire
ART
7
7
Marcus Armstrong
Hitech
8
24
David Beckmann
Van Amersfoort
9
17
Ayumu Iwasa
DAMS
10
1
Dennis Hauger
Prema
11
16
Roy Nissany
DAMS
12
4
Marino Sato
Virtuosi
13
22
Enzo Fittipaldi
Charouz
14
8
Juri Vips
Hitech
15
9
Frederik Vesti
ART
16
21
Calan Williams
Trident
17
12
Clement Novalak
MP
18
25
Amaury Cordeel
Van Amersfoort
19
23
Tatiana Calderon
Charouz
20
14
Lirim Zendeli
Campos
DNF
6
Logan Sargeant
Carlin
DNF
2
Jehan Daruvala
Prema
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