MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor took victory in the Formula 2 Sprint Race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, profiting from a late Safety Car to storm through the field.
DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford held the lead for much of the race, but with the Dutchman pitting for tyres after PREMA team-mates Sebastian Montoya and Gabriele Mini clashed at the first chicane to cause the Safety Car.
Alex Dunne, who started 19th, finished second, with Rafael Villagomez third, Crawford fourth and Montoya fifth.
Victor Martins was sixth, with Luke Browning seventh, having been second for the whole race up until the Safety Car. Leonardo Fornaroli was eighth, with Arvid Lindblad ninth, and Sami Meguetounif 10th.
At the start, Fornaroli and Joshua Durksen got away well but Browning scythed through the middle of them to lead into Turn 1, with Crawford then profiting too by moving into second.
Lindblad was already up to seventh, with Kush Maini taking Roman Stanek for fifth at Turn 12. Ritomo Miyata and Verschoor relegated Lindblad to ninth with Crawford setting the fastest lap, narrowing the gap to Browning to four tenths.
By Lap 4, Crawford was now all over Browning’s tail, trying around the outside at Turns 3 and 4. Despite being pushed wide, kicking-up dust, the American held firm and took Browning down the inside of Turn 5.
Crawford immediately opened up a half-second lead, keeping it down to three tenths under DRS.
By Lap 7, Crawford was seven tenths ahead of Browning, with Fornaroli four tenths further back, with Lindblad up to eighth. Miyata made the biggest progress so far, up to sixth having started 13th on the grid.
With just over one third race distance complete, Crawford was now opening up a gap of nearly a second from Browning, with Fornaroli sixth tenths behnd in third, as the DRS train prevented any huge gains.
Crawford pulls away amid DRS train
At the start of Lap 11, Crawford was able to open a second’s gap to Browning, freeing himself of the DRS train and potentially able to pull further ahead.
The train was disallowing drivers to find a way past the car ahead, with the likes of Oliver Goethe, Dunne, Mini, Montoya and Dino Beganovic all unable to move up the order.
Some drama did take place at the start of Lap 14 as Lindblad came under intense pressure from Verschoor. The Dutchman went down the inside of the Brit, who tried to hold his position and close the space into Turn 1, but in doing so, the Red Bull junior spun onto the run off area on the inside into Turn 2.
Both blamed the other on their respective team radios, but Lindblad was the big loser, now down to 19th place as Verschoor ended-up losing the place he gained to Pepe Marti at Turn 5.
Durksen’s race was over just shortly before, pitting due to a technical issue.
At the front, Browning reduced the gap to Crawford back down to under a second, with Fornaroli unable to find a way to close onto the leading duo.
Boring race turns into chaotic one with PREMA clash
Further drama at Turn 1 ensured at the start of Lap 18, as the PREMA pair of Mini and Montoya duelled for 10th. The Colombian went to the inside and as the Italian refused to relent, the pair touched, spinning Montoya at the very same spot where Lindblad spun.
Mini spun 20 yards or so ahead, but he would be out, as Montoya was able to keep the engine running at get going again.
The Safety Car was now out, as Mini sarcastically described his team-mate’s move as a “good job” over radio.
Verschoor, Dunne, Sami Meguetounif, Victor Martins and Cian Shields all chose to pit with the Safety Car continuing to hold station.
At the end of Lap 20, the Safety Car pulled into the pits and with Crawford going a little wide on the exit of Turn 13, came under pressure from Browning, but held the lead as racing resumed.
Further back was where the action was, as Vershcoor, Stanek, Pepe Marti and Goethe, Dunne and Miyata all squabbled for the position, the MP of Verschoor coming out best, taking fourth.
Dunne was now fifth, with Maini down to sixth, Miyata seventh and Meguetounif making use of his fresh rubber to mov eup to eighth, with Villagomez and Montoya ninth and 10th.
Verschoor was on a mega charge, now second with Dunne taking Browning for third.
Crawford, having comfortably led for much of the race, now came under extreme pressure from Verschoor, who took the lead into Lap 24, with Dunne now second.
Fornaroli was now down to fifth with VIllagomez now sixth, Montoya seventh, with Lindblad and Meguetounif now jostling for 10th place.
Verschoor and Dunne now left Crawford behind, the American four-and-a-half seconds behind as the Irishman sensed victory.
Villagomez was now ahead of Fornaroli and Browning, with Miyata now dropping out of the top 10.
With the final lap now approaching, Dunne set the fastest lap with a four tenths gap to Verschoor, as Villagomez took third, with Montoya now up to sixth.
Despite Dunne’s best efforts, Vershoor took the opportunistic victory. Villagomez held onto third with Crawford just holding off Montoya for fourth, with Browning down to seventh.
With the Feature Race on Sunday, Dunne now leads the championship again, after a race which was destined to be a quiet affair peaked with a flurry of action and drama.
