Joshua Duerksen took a late charge in the Formula 2 Sprint Race, beating out Martinius Stenshorne to return to victory in the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Sebastian Montoya was lining up in pole position for the Sprint Race, the PREMA driver hoping for a strong result after suffering three DNFs in a row over the last few rounds.
However, he had the challenge of Martinius Stenshorne alongside him, also hoping to capitalise on the first corner.
Montoya was quick off the line, but Stenshorne was alongside him around the outside of the first corner. Behind the PREMA driver Roman Bilinski, who had a poor start, losing places in the opening corners.
Stenshorne leads the field
Stenshorne was close on the back of Montoya, sweeping around the outside of the PREMA car and taking the lead. It wasn’t over for Montoya as Joshua Duerksen closed in on the PREMA driver into the Bus Stop Chicane, going around the outside as the driver ran side by side.
Duerksen initially had to give up the fight, but it was not over for the duo. Especially as DRS was not enabled until the second lap.
Vitally on Lap 4, Montoya was teetering on the edge of having DRS for Stenshorne.
Further back in the field, Gabriele Mini was beginning to make up ground from 14th into 12th. However, Mini needed to move another four places to get within the points and minimise the damage to his championship hopes.
Montoya was struggling without the DRS to Stenshorne and was under pressure from Duerksen. The Invicta driver used his DRS to breeze past the PREMA driver on the Kemmel Straight.
On Lap 6, Cian Shield spun on the track with his AIX machinery, finding the barriers at Turn 7. The collision brought out a Safety Car, leaving Stenshorne in danger as his nearly two-second gap disappeared.
Going green
The Safety Car came in on Lap 7, with the Rodin out front leading the field to green.
Stenshorne has a strong restart, holding onto his lead; it was further back with Montoya, who found the most pressure in the first corners.
Down to Eau Rouge, Dino Beganovic was closing on the back of the PREMA driver. However, he also had the championship leader on his gearbox as Nikola Tsolov closed in.
On Lap 10, the gap was closing between Stenshorne and Duerksen. The Rodin driver made a mistake in the opening sector of the lap, which left the Invicta all but touching the car in front.
Up Eau Rouge, Duerksen swept past Stenshorne and took the race lead.
Meanwhile, it was a disaster race for Mini, who pulled into the pit lane with an issue on his MP machinery. The team is coming on the radio to warn of a risk of fire in the car.
At the same time, Nicolas Varrone also dove into the pit lane, retiring from the Sprint Race.
The battle for the lead wasn’t over as Stenshorne was closing back in on Duerksen.
Throughout the field, drivers were beginning to pick up black-and-white flags for track limits. Kush Maini was the first driver to receive a five-second penalty for this, but many were under investigation.
Safety Car out
John Bennett had a massive spin on the exit of Blanchimont on Lap 14, luckily avoiding any collision with other drivers on track. Bennett’s car stopped on the side of the track with his TRIDENT unable to get going, but Bennet was unscathed.
A Safety Car was brought out due to the incident, which brought Maini into the pit lane to serve his five-second penalty and avoid serving it at the chequered flag.
With just one lap left, the Safety Car came in. Leaving Duerksen and Stenshorne with one final chance at victory. The Invicta backed up the field and took the field green into the final corner. Stenshorne was caught off guard, and Duerksen held his lead.
Tsolov went side by side with Montoya, pushing the PREMA driver into fifth as he took fourth. Behind him, Alex Dunne and Rafa Camara both made it past the PREMA driver, who ran off the track and fell out of the points.
Duerksen crossed the line to take his first victory since the beginning of the season, with Stenshorne and Beganovic closing out the podium.
Tsolov and Dunne rounded out the top five with Camara, Bilinski and Ollie Goethe finishing the point scorers for the Sprint Race.
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