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Race report

F2 Imola: Armstrong snatches lead at start to win sprint race

Marcus Armstrong took his second FIA Formula 2 victory at Imola, snatching the lead off the line before holding on to the chequered flag. 

Marcus Armstrong, Hitech Grand Prix

Marcus Armstrong, Hitech Grand Prix

FIA

The Hitech driver passed polesitter Logan Sargeant at the start and managed to hold off the quick-running Prema of Jehan Daruvala to take his first win since Jeddah last year. 

Carlin driver Sargeant suffered excess wheel spin on the grid, leaving him to flounder in fifth as he was swallowed up by Prema duo Daruvala and Dennis Hauger, and DAMS’ Roy Nissany. 

Nissany was briefly running in third after an excellent start before reigning FIA Formula 3 champion Hauger made it a Prema 2-3, which they held until the end. 

There was a first-lap safety car after David Beckmann, driving in place of an injured Cem Bolukbasi at Charouz, went off at the Tamburello melee, while Clement Novalak suffered a broken front wing on his MP Motorsport car after he was unable to avoid the supersub’s spin. 

Championship leader Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport) started in 12th after a poor qualifying on Friday, but had made it up to seventh by the end of the first lap, while feature race polesitter Juri Vips (Hitech) ran wide, dropping him to the back of the pack. 

As racing resumed on lap 5, Hauger applied pressure to his teammate Daruvala in front, while further down the field Carlin’s Liam Lawson passed Ayumu Iwasa’s Carlin-run car for ninth place. 

Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire (ART) both made it past Ralph Boschung in the battle for sixth on lap 9, before the Campos Racing driver eventually came to a halt at Turn 1, prompting a virtual safety car. 

The front three had built up a five-second gap to Nissany in fourth place by the halfway point, with the Israeli driver holding off Sargeant and Drugovich. 

ART’s Frederik Vesti made it past rookie Jack Doohan (Virtuosi) for tenth place on lap 19 after a several-lap tussle, with experience paying out for the Mercedes junior. 

Though a loose sidepod cover looked set to threaten Hauger’s race, it held firm for him to take his first series podium at his team’s home race. 

By the penultimate lap, Nissany had built a 3.5s gap to Sargeant, with the Williams junior risking falling prey to Drugovich, who eventually passed him down the start-finish straight to take fifth. 

Pourchaire finished in seventh, with Lawson taking the final points place in eighth. 

After running wide early in the race, Vips made his way back up to 15th at the chequered flag. 

F2 Imola - Sprint Race Result:

Cla # Driver Team Gap Interval
1 7 New Zealand Marcus Armstrong
United Kingdom HitechGP
2 2 India Jehan Daruvala
Italy Prema Powerteam 1.400 1.400
3 1 Norway Dennis Hauger
Italy Prema Powerteam 2.200 0.800
4 16 Israel Roy Nissany
France DAMS 2.800 0.600
5 11 Brazil Felipe Drugovich
Netherlands MP Motorsport 7.000 4.200
6 6 United States Logan Sargeant
United Kingdom Carlin 9.800 2.800
7 10 France Theo Pourchaire
France ART Grand Prix 12.300 2.500
8 5 New Zealand Liam Lawson
United Kingdom Carlin 12.800 0.500
9 17 Ayumu Iwasa
France DAMS 13.400 0.600
10 9 Denmark Frederik Vesti
France ART Grand Prix 17.700 4.300
11 3 Australia Jack Doohan
Virtuosi Racing 20.100 2.400
12 22 Brazil Enzo Fittipaldi
Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 21.000 0.900
13 20 Netherlands Richard Verschoor
Italy Trident 21.400 0.400
14 21 Australia Calan Williams
Italy Trident 22.900 1.500
15 8 Estonia Jüri Vips
United Kingdom HitechGP 23.200 0.300
16 4 Japan Marino Sato
Virtuosi Racing 24.200 1.000
17 14 United Kingdom Olli Caldwell
Spain Campos Racing 24.600 0.400
18 24 United Kingdom Jake Hughes
Van Amersfoort Racing 25.800 1.200
19 12 Switzerland Clement Novalak
Netherlands MP Motorsport 26.200 0.400
15 Switzerland Ralph Boschung
Spain Campos Racing
23 Germany David Beckmann
Czech Republic Charouz Racing System
25 Amaury Cordeel
Van Amersfoort Racing

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