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The 16 F1 Academy drivers fought hard for position in a tense and close Race 2.
In a race that was delayed from Saturday to Sunday, Abby Pulling beat Nerea Marti and Maya Weug to take the win in Race 1. Just an hour and a half later, they lined up for Race 2 with Doriane Pin on pole position this time ahead of Pulling and Weug.
In Race 2, Pin took a dominant win ahead of two of the podium sitters from Race 1, her second lights-to-flag victory of the season. Race 1 podium sitters Weug and Pulling finished in second and third. But behind them, plenty of close battles defined the 17 lap race that took place.
How it happened
Pin had an incredible start, retaining her lead from pole into Turn 1. Behind her, Weug jumped ahead of Pulling, the British driver slotting into third place behind them.
Further back, Lia Block, who was sitting sixth on the grid, stalled at the start and dropped back to 15th place. Nerea Marti also had an unfortunate start, making contact with another driver in Turn 1 and dropping several places as a result.
Pin instantly pulled a comfortable lead, but Weug struggled to keep Pulling behind. But Weug wasn’t the only driver under pressure, as not far behind the pair Aurelia Nobels was holding off Nina Gademan, who in turn was holding off Hamda Al Qubaisi.
The battle between the three of them went on for most of the race, the drivers staying close but struggling to make a move stick on the notoriously difficult Circuit Zandvoort.
They stayed in that order, Nobels, Gademan, and Al Qubaisi, until Lap Lap 9, when Nobels and Gademan made contact in Turn 5 fighting for position. Nobels was pushed wide and went into the gravel briefly, allowing not just Gademan but Al Qubaisi to get by her to take fourth and fifth place respectively.
Meanwhile, ahead of them, Pulling continued to fight hard to close the gap to Weug. On Lap 6, her race engineer told her on the radio that she had to get past the Ferrari Academy Driver in the next two laps. But, much like the rest of the grid, she was unable to get an overtake completed.
Results
Out ahead, Pin pulled a two-second gap in the lead before eventually taking it home to secure a dominant win for Race 2. “Thank you so much,” she told her team PREMA Racing on the radio after she crossed the finish line. “You all deserve it. The car was great today.”
Weug stayed ahead of Pulling to secure second place. Gademan was able to hold fourth place, followed by Al Qubaisi and Nobels. Behind them, Carrie Schreiner, Lola Lovinfosse, Nerea Marti, and Tina Hausman completed the points-finishers for the weekend.
Full results can be found here.
Feature Image Credit: Joe Portlock – Getty Images