F2: The Sunday race at Red Bull Ring was won by Verschoor.
The Saturday sprint at Austria’s Red Bull Ring was quite an exciting, combative, and fun event—it’s even strange that nobody was penalized after the finish, and the starting order for the main race of the weekend remained as it was following Friday’s qualifying.
Leonardo Fornaroli started from pole, one of those who ended up in the pile-up that occurred literally on the last lap of the sprint yesterday. Since the Italian Invicta Racing driver didn’t score any points on Saturday, he was naturally eager to make up for his losses today.
But similar ambitions were shared by Victor Martins, who qualified second, and Richard Verschoor, who was only one point behind the championship leader Alex Dunne. The Dutch MP Motorsport driver finished fourth in yesterday's race, and the outcome of today’s race would determine whether he could take over the lead in the championship—something he clearly aspired to—or whether the fast Irishman, a McLaren junior, would remain in front.
Arvid Lindblad from Campos Racing, also unlucky yesterday, had a chance to improve his situation in the standings as well. He fell victim to a dramatic incident early in the short Saturday race and was also looking to score some points, though starting from 15th made this more difficult. Spoiler alert: his misfortune continued today.
Alex Dunne started seventh, and with good strategy and a bit of luck, he could well have reached the podium.
The drivers had to complete 40 laps—the Sunday race lasts over an hour—and right from the start Richard Verschoor staked his claim for the win, almost taking the lead, but Fornaroli defended as decisively as he did cleanly, so he held on to first. Martins dropped to third, Roman Stanek ran fourth, and yesterday’s sprint winner, Pepe Martí, rounded out the top five.
On the first lap, smoke appeared from Gabriele Minì’s engine, but the Italian managed to make it to the pit lane and there were no yellow flags.
Joshua Duerksen also began to have issues, losing positions—from eighth on the grid, he had dropped to 13th by lap 4. It also seemed that Sebastian Montoya's car was not in order; the son of the former F1 driver had lost pace and was now last.
On lap 6, there was a notable duel between Pepe Martí and Alex Dunne for fifth place. The Spaniard not only stayed ahead, but both drivers dived into the pits for the mandatory stop, among the first to change tires. However, on the very next lap, many others followed their example. Fornaroli, still leading at the time, stayed out for an extra lap, but when he finally pitted for new tires, it seemed that Invicta’s mechanics did not perform at their best.
After the pit stops, out of those who had pitted, Victor Martins was now ahead, followed by Richard Verschoor—they were now virtually fighting for the lead. About three seconds behind the Dutchman was Alex Dunne, running eighth for now but already being caught by Martí, who made an impressive pass on Fornaroli after a nearly lap-long battle.
However, Fornaroli, whose tires were already up to temperature, overtook Pepe on lap 15; on the same lap, Verschoor launched a determined attack on Martins and succeeded in passing him, though the Frenchman tried to defend. Richard was now running sixth, but the five cars ahead of him had yet to pit.
Meanwhile, the gap between Martins and Dunne was down to just over two seconds, with Fornaroli closely behind Dunne.
On lap 18, Verschoor and Martins lapped Ken Shields, although the British AIX Racing rookie had yet to pit.
At halfway, Richard Verschoor, now fifth, had broken clear of Victor Martins by more than a second, meaning the French ART driver could no longer use DRS.
On lap 22, Montoya—having made up ground after his earlier troubles—caught and passed Kush Maini to take the lead, though both still needed to stop. That same lap, Dunne closed right up to Martins’ car and was clearly preparing to attack. Not waiting long, on lap 23, Alex made the decisive move and moved up to sixth.
Interestingly, these two had already clashed on track yesterday, and it seemed Dunne was overly aggressive; however, after reviewing the incident, the stewards took no action against the Irishman. Today Martins again complained over the radio that Dunne had nearly forced him off, but in any case, the final word rested with the stewards.
With two-thirds of the race gone, Montoya—still yet to pit—retained the lead, now almost three seconds clear of Maini. They were the last to run on old tires. On lap 30, Sebastian finally pitted, returning to the track in 14th. Maini came in right after, so with ten laps to go, Richard Verschoor inherited the lead.
Behind, Alex Dunne was second, over two seconds behind, while Martins held third, but his worn tires provided little grip and he was unable to hold off Fornaroli. However, the Italian’s spell in third was short, as Martins soon retook the position.
Moreover, Martí took advantage and overtook Fornaroli as well, then began chasing down Martins. Victor defended with everything he had, culminating in contact between their cars. Martí went ahead, Martins lost two positions, and was now under pressure from Luke Browning—both are Williams Academy drivers, incidentally.
Replays showed Martí had “karted” Martins’ Dallara off the racing line, and of course, the stewards took an interest.
With three laps to go, Verschoor was leading, Dunne two seconds behind, Fornaroli about six seconds back, chased by Martí—but then the stewards’ verdict was announced: Pepe Martí of Campos received a 10-second penalty for the collision with Martins.
Interestingly, on the final lap, Montoya—who had recently taken on fresh SuperSoft tires—managed to overtake several rivals and, within just a few corners of the finish, got past Browning and Martins to secure a fine fifth place.
The race win went to Richard Verschoor, giving him the lead in the standings—his third win this season. Alex Dunne finished second, minimizing his losses, and Leonardo Fornaroli took the final podium spot. The penalized Pepe Martí dropped to seventh, and Martins, on completely worn tires, had to settle for eighth.
As in yesterday’s sprint, there was a dramatic crash on the final lap: Red Bull junior program drivers Oliver Goethe and Arvid Lindblad tangled. Battling for positions outside the top ten, Lindblad attempted an unsuccessful move on the German and their cars made contact—Goethe’s Dallara was launched into the air and off the track. Fortunately, there were no injuries.
Arvid was also out, though classified 14th—unless, of course, the stewards intervene and revise the results.
The next round of the junior series is just a week away at Silverstone, and there’s no doubt it will be a spectacular one as well.
Race Results
Driver
Team
Time/Gap
1. R. Verschoor
MP Motorsport
53:36.455
2. A. Dunne
Rodin Motorsport
+1.181
3. L. Fornaroli
Invicta Racing
+9.743
4. D. Crawford
DAMS
+17.171
5. S. Montoya
Prema
+18.303
6. L. Browning
Hitech GP
+19.975
7. P. Martí
Campos Racing
+20.696
8. V. Martins
ART Grand Prix
+20.744
9. R. Stanek
Invicta Racing
+20.952
10. D. Beganovic
Hitech GP
+24.021
11. S. Megetounif
Trident
+28.972
12. R. Villagomez
Van Amersfoort Racing
+36.808
13. D. Bennett
Van Amersfoort Racing
+37.973
14. A. Lindblad
Campos Racing
+42.303
15. J. Duerksen
AIX Racing
+42.449
16. M. Esterson
Trident
+49.109
17. K. Maini
DAMS
+1'18.706
18. O. Goethe
MP Motorsport
+1 lap
– K. Shields
AIX Racing
Retired
– A. Cordeel
Rodin Motorsport
Retired
– G. Minì
Prema
Retired
– R. Miyata
ART Grand Prix
Retired
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