A wet race in Spa-Francorchamps showed everyone true talent on track. With the right amount of tyres pressure and multiple track actions, Alexander Dunne’s win gave him the lead of the championship back.
If the rain hid for the whole weekend, it definitely was there for the feature race. After three formation laps, the race director decided it was going to be a rolling start procedure. Taking the pole position on Friday, Alexander Dunne kept the lead as he launched the race. However, visibility was still on issue at the beginning, and all the drivers were extra careful on their moves.
Battle for the top
Roman Staněk took the upper hand on Ritomo Miyata before Eau Rouge, but the Japanese took the second place back. In the back, Luke Browning made a magnificent overtake on Amaury Cordeel for P11. On the other hand, it was tricky for Josep Maria Martì, as he lost a position to Leonardo Fornaroli. Gabriele Minì behind attacked him, as he slid on the curb to try and catch the Spaniard. The Italian Invicta driver cut a bit of the Raidillon, which gave the opportunity to Martì to overtake back. In the meantime, Victor Martins seemed to have an incredible rhythm, coming back on Staněk for the last position on the podium. Arvid Lindblad behind, also came back on this group.
On lap 5, both Hitech drivers tried to overtake the driver in front of them before the Raidillon. Only Dino Beganovic managed to pass Richard Verschoor for P11. Minì was really close to his fellow compatriot, and managed to take the upper hand on lap 6, for seventh place. Sebastián Montoya probably made a mistake and lost four positions, while both Hitech’s drivers overtook the MP Motorsport’s drivers. On lap 7, Maini, Montoya and Meguetounif pitted for new wet tyres.
Jak Crawford made a mistake while in front, Alexander Dunne had trouble managing his tyres with wrong pressure and saw the Japanese ART Grand Prix driver in his mirror. Luke Browning overtook Leonardo Fornaroli at Turn 1 for P8. Victor Martins and Gabriele Minì both received a black and white flag for track limit. Ritomo Miyata cut a corner, which gave a bit of air to Alexander Dunne. Luke Browning attacked Gabriele Minì, but the Italian defended his position.
Pitting and pushing
Victor Martins took a 5-second penalty for track limit. Verschoor, Fornaroli and Minì pitted for a new set of wet tyres. The Prema team struggled with one tyre and it made the Italian driver lose positions. Victor Martins took another 5-second penalty, making it 10 in total. A lot of drivers pitted on lap 12, while the leaders pitted a lap later. Luke Browning spun while leaving the pit, losing all the effort he made during those 13 laps. Alexander Dunne was under attack by the Czech driver Staněk, but managed to keep the lead. Amaury Cordeel and Joshua Durksen pitted on lap 14.
Alexander Dunne managed to overtake Oliver Goethe for the lead of the race. Roman Staněk struggled to keep his car straight on track and was under an immense amount of pressure behind him. Arvid Lindblad took the last spot on the podium away from Staněk but was under a pit lane infringement. Gabriele Minì overtook Victor Martins for P9. Visibility was a clear issue, from Eau Rouge to the Kemmel Straight. Ritomo Miyata spun and lost his podium, but lost only two positions.
Leonardo Fornaroli found some rhythm back and overtook Dino Beganovic. Gabriele Minì did the same a couple of corners later. Luke Browning was driving in a rocketship, as he took some positions back. The safety car was deployed on lap 18, due to Sebastián Montoya spinning and stalling. On lap 21, still under the safety car, Oliver Goethe’s engine blew off. This caused a red flag and stopped the race.
Drama after the race
Alexander Dunne won and took the lead of the championship back. Arvid Lindblad took second place, and Roman Staněk third. However, a penalty was applied to the Irish driver for “for failing to engage the start set-up procedure at the start of the feature race formation lap”, dropping him in P10. The McLaren Junior driver drop back from the championship lead.
Arvid Lindblad, under investigation for the pit lane infrigment only received a reprimand. But the drama was not over, as the British was later disqualified for having all four tyres below the minimum tyre pressure. This makes Roman Staněk the winner for the first time in Formula 2, following by Ritomo Miyata, taking his first podium in the series as well. Luke Browning completes the podium.