Formula 2: Jack Doohan wins for the first time

Saturday’s sprint in Formula 2 took place in difficult weather conditions on a track that dried up after the rain, with the drivers completing two formation laps behind the safety car before giving the start. This state of reporting was the harbinger of a fierce battle, and audiences in the stands and in front of the TV screens were certainly not disappointed in the further development of events.

Jehan Daruvala started from pole position and showed the 10th result in yesterday’s qualifying, Enzo Fittipaldi started the race from second position and Jüri Vips started from third position, who of course wanted to perform as well as possible to rehabilitate himself somewhat after the unpleasant events preceding the weekend.endu. Looking ahead, we can say that the Estonian failed.

When given the start on a water-filled track en route, it’s hard to expect a fierce battle in the first corners, although in the depths of the pack, the first permutations still took place: Jake Hughes was ahead of Dennis Hauger and went to 12th place.

But already in the second round an interesting duel started between the championship leader Felipe Drugovic and Frederic Vesti. It went on for several innings, nobody wanted to give in and it almost ended in a melee, but the Dane acted decisively, outperforming his opponent and settled in 8th position.

After three laps, the experienced Daruvala broke away from Fittipaldi by over a second and it was felt that he was riding quite confidently on a wet track.

Meanwhile, Jack Duane got close to Yuri Vips, who was in third, and a fierce battle ensued between them and the Australian took the lead after a superb overtake. In addition, the Estonian racer was unable to hold onto fourth position, leaving Ayumu Ivasu ahead.

The track situation became increasingly tense: after five laps Daruvala started complaining about tire wear and overtook him almost immediately and in the last corner ahead of Fittipaldi, then Duane and a little later – Iwas.

Towards the end of the top ten several drivers overtook Liam Lawson – it turned out that the front wing of the New Zealander’s car was broken and he had to pit.

The race leader quickly changed: Fittipaldi made a mistake by not keeping the car on track, and Duane took first position, Iwasa moved up to second and the Brazilian was now only third.

Theo Purscher, second in the individual standings, realizing that today’s race gives him a good chance to improve his standings, started taking action and started breaking forward. On lap 10 he overtook Daruwala and climbed to 4th position but pushed the Indian rider off the track, which the stewards immediately became interested in. However, no sanctions followed.

Around the same time, it became known about a 5-second penalty that they awarded to Juri Vips, who had already rolled back to 7th position and fended off Felipe Drugovich’s attacks with all his might. In the 12th round, the Brazilian managed to put pressure on his opponent and stay ahead of him. Apparently the Estonian was punished for chronically failing to comply with the track’s limits.

With five laps to go, Duane remained in the lead, creating a 4.5 second lead over Iwasa, and Fittipaldi, on worn-out wet tires, fell further behind the Japanese, who was already preparing to attack Purscher.

Felipe Drugovic passed Frederic Vesti in a 7-8-9 turn for 6th position, and on the next lap overtook Daruwala and reached the top five.

Also in the closing laps Logan Sargent, yesterday’s qualifying winner, stepped in and overtook Vesti and Daruwala, but just then Frederick put pressure on the Indian rider, so the American had to wait a bit. Vesti successfully overtook his opponent, after which Sargent did the same.

The race was approaching the finish, Duane continued to lead, but was already driving quite calmly, but Iwasa added noticeably, finishing the best laps and had already narrowed the gap to just over a second, but this was not enough to impose a real fight on the Australian.

Jack Doohan was the first to see the checkered flag on his debut Formula 2 win, and among those who congratulated him at the finish was his father, famed Australian motorcycle racer Mick Doohan, who won five world championships in his time.

Second place was taken by Ayumu Iwasa, who repeated his best result in Formula 2, Enzo Fittipaldi finished third, who was unable to keep ahead of Purscher. But Theo still finished ahead of Drugovich, which allowed him to narrow the gap on the youth championship leader by at least one point. But Felipe stayed ahead of everyone and still maintains a very confident lead of almost fifty points.

Sprint results Saturday