Photo: Gedlich Racing
Dries Van Langendonck starred again in the second round of the Formula Winter Series at the Algarve circuit, claiming two dominant wins from the three races.
In wet conditions that would persist throughout the race weekend, McLaren junior Van Langendonck was pipped to pole position by Rodin Motorsport team-mate Ethan Lennon in Saturday morning’s opening qualifying session. Just 0.08 seconds separated the two Rodin drivers – with half a second back to third-placed Ary Bansal of US Racing – but Lennon did enough to claim a double pole thanks to also having the leading second-fastest time.
Van Langendonck struck back in the second session, claiming race three pole by 0.844s over US Racing’s Oleksandr Savinkov with Lennon in third.
Despite the damp track, race one began with a grid start but Van Langendonck may have wished it hadn’t, since he stalled when the lights went out. He was able to get going at the rear of the field, running 27th at the end of lap one, but the same wasn’t true for team-mate Alfie Slater who didn’t get away from fourth and was struck by the right-rear tyre of Van Amersfoort Racing’s Pedro Lima.
Lennon led from Bansal during 20 minutes under safety car conditions while the stranded cars were recovered, but Bansal grabbed the lead into the first corner at the restart. Lennon and Bearman then banged wheels as they fought over second place two corners later.
Having kept Bearman at bay, Lennon was pressuring Bansal to regain the lead when the safety car was deployed again after Emmilio Del Grosso’s car needed recovering.
Bansal slowed the field enough at the restart to ensure the clock ran down and only one lap remained, holding on to win by 0.319s over Lennon – who was later penalised five seconds for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. That dropped him to eighth, one place behind the recovering Van Langendonck. Bearman was promoted to second ahead of Jenzer Motorsport’s Teo Borenstein, while Rocco Coronel beat Savinkov to fourth.
Race two did start under the safety car, with Lennon initially retaining the lead until Van Langendonck slid down his inside at Turn 5 to move ahead.
A wide moment for Lennon over a kerb a couple of laps later helped Van Langendonck to escape and allowed Slater the chance to pass for second. Slater couldn’t do anything about Van Langendonck, who won by 8.138s. Coronel survived first-corner contact with Savinkov to finish a distant fourth after a thrilling late battle with Bansal.
Van Langendonck’s winning margin would be a slightly smaller 7.98s in race three. From a standing start he fell behind Savinkov off the line, but once again claimed the lead on the inside of Turn 5 for the first time.
Following a safety car period after Vittorio Orsini and Tomas Rudokas tangled on lap one, Savinkov ran well wide through the final corner on the restart, putting him under pressure from team-mate Ludovico Busso and giving Van Langendonck the chance to escape out front. Savinkov soon shook off Busso to finish a lonely second, with Busso rounding out the podium after beating the battling Lennon, Alexander Ruta and Bearman.
Results round-up
Race 1 (11 laps)
1 Ary Bansal US Racing 32m27.584s
2 Thomas Bearman Van Amersfoort Racing +1.202s
3 Teo Borenstein Jenzer Motorsport +1.877s
4 Rocco Coronel Van Amersfoort Racing +2.976s
5 Oleksandr Savinkov US Racing +3.527s
6 Alexander Ruta Van Amersfoort Racing +4.142s
7 Dries Van Langendonck Rodin Motorsport +4.414s
8 Ethan Lennon Rodin Motorsport +5.319s
9 Ludovico Busso US Racing +5.478s
10 Noah Killon US Racing +5.494s
Pole: Lennon, 2m05.468s
Fastest lap: Bansal, 2m06.909s
Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Van Langendonck 33m03.718s
2 Slater +8.138s
3 Lennon +10.584s
4 Coronel +20.223s
5 Bansal +20.530s
6 Ruta +21.332s
7 Bearman +22.230s
8 Pedro Lima Van Amersfoort Racing +29.136s
9 Busso +29.303s
10 Borenstein +32.276s
Pole: Lennon, 2m05.752s
FL: Van Langendonck, 2m05.705s
Race 3 (14 laps)
1 Van Langendonck 31m58.707s
2 Savinkov +7.980s
3 Busso +17.656s
4 Lennon +18.145s
5 Ruta +18.768s
6 Bansal +19.209s
7 Bearman +21.880s
8 Slater +22.331s
9 Coronel +23.017s
10 Samuel Ifrid Cram Motorsport +28.709s
Pole: Van Langendonck, 2m05.389s
FL: Van Langendonck, 2m05.429s
Championship standings
1 Van Langendonck 108 2 Bansal 66 3 Savinkov 59 4 Coronel 52 5 Bearman 45 6 Lennon 45 7 Slater 40 8 Ruta 34 9 Arn 21 10 Busso 21