With the sunniest Spa Grand Prix weekend that we’ve seen since a long time, everyone knew the Formula 2 sprint race would be amazing. And it did not disappoint, especially after Leonardo Fornaroli’s performance.
It’s under the sun that Formula 2 raced in the middle of the Ardennes in Belgium. For 18 laps of pure racing, all of the grid decided to put medium tyres. Oliver Goethe, who was on pole, took a clean start in front of the home hero Amaury Cordeel. However, Leonardo Fornaroli, who started in fourth, had such an amazing start that he managed to overtake the three drivers in front of him even before Turn 1.
Drama for the championship leader
A little behind the leaders, a contact between Luke Browning, Jak Crawford and Richard Verschoor created a virtual safety car. It later turned into a safety car, as Richard Verschoor spun at the Raidillon, with his sidepod being touched by the previous contact. The leader of the championship found himself retiring in the pit. Green flag was waved again in lap 4, and Alexander Dunne overtook Ritomo Miyata to begin his climb on top. Both Campos drivers were battling, as Josep Maria Martì lost a piece of his front wing and seemed to struggle. A three way battle between Arvid Lindblad, Gabriele Minì and Alexander Dunne began on lap 6 for the sixth place.
For the first time in ages, Amaury Cordeel seemed to have a lot of rhythm. With the help of the DRS, he closed the gap on the Invicta leading the field. Gabriele Minì tried to overtake Lindblad, but managed to keep his position. The Alpine Academy driver saw the McLaren development driver coming back in his mirror as the two battled next to each other. In the end, the Prema driver kept his P7. The second DAMS Lucas Oil driver, Kush Maini, also had an issue, as he DNFed on lap 7. Victor Martins close the gap to Oliver Goethe as the MP Motorsport driver lost the back of his car in the Raidillon. He overtook him on the next lap and the Frenchman climbed on the podium.
Trouble under the sun
Track limits began to be awarded, as multiple drivers took a black and white flag. The ART Grand Prix driver overtook Amaury Cordeel, but a slight contact between both of them took the Belgian out. In the meantime, Gabriele Minì overtook Lindblad behind him. The second safety car came, and half of the grid decided to pit for soft tyres for the last four laps. As both Campos drivers pitted, Arvid Lindblad had to wait for his turn, and went back on track in P11. As the green flag waved again, Gabriele Minì took the upper hand on Oliver Goethe for the last podium position. Alexander Dunne, on his soft tyres, began to slowly climb back and attacked Roman Staněk. He lost the position a few corners later, as the Irish tried to attack Marti, who defended and gave the opportunity back to the Czech driver to take P7.
Dino Beganovic and Rafael Villagomez both took a five-second penalty. One for track limits, the other for a safety car infridgement. With one lap to go, the safety car was back on track, with Sami Meguetounif experiencing a mechanical issue on his Trident, putting an early end to the race. It finished under the safety car, with Leonardo Fornarolli on top, followed by Victor Martins and Gabriele Minì. A much needed podium for the two as Victor Martins finally managed to capitalise in race, while the Italian Prema Racing driver finally goes back into the point, which happened for the last time in Spain. For the Invicta driver, it’s his second win in his rookie season in Formula 2, and he already demonstrated the pure talent that he has.