Hauger tops F2 practice in Jeddah, Villagomez crash shortens session

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger was fastest in Formula 2’s practice in Jeddah, which was shortened by red flags.

Only 10 drivers headed out in the first five minutes of the 45-minute session, and MP’s Franco Colapinto was first to set a lap. Soon seven more drivers headed out, and Colapinto was quickest by several seconds with his second effort, a 1m51.403s.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi was next best on a 1m54.096s, with ART Grand Prix’s Zak O’Sullivan and DAMS’ Juan Manuel Correa the only other drivers to post sub-2m00s laps.

Hitech GP’s Paul Aron joined that group after nine minutes, then Correa and O’Sullivan jumped up to first and second after setting a 1m47.202s and 1m47.484s respectively.

As practice reached the 10-minute mark, Trident’s Richard Verschor went top with a 1m47.128s but that was almost immediately beaten by a 1m46.333s from Prema’s Ollie Bearman. Hauger went fifth fastest, ahead of Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli and PHM Racing’s Joshua Duerksen.

Colapinto was shuffled down to 12th, but he then set a 1m46.774s to go second fastest ahead of ART GP’s Victor Martins. Moments later Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar took over second place with a 1m46.622s, then Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney went fastest with a 1m45.811s.

There was further change to the top 10 when Virtuosi Racing’s Kush Maini set a 1m46.162s to rise up to second and the deletion of all flying laps from Antonelli, Colapinto and Martins due to track limits abuse sent them to the bottom of the timesheet.

Fittipaldi lowered the pace 14 minutes in with a 1m45.755s, and was on top for a few seconds before Hauger set a 1m45.558s. Bearman went fastest in sector one but then red flags waved as VAR’s Rafael Villagomez had a mid-corner twitch at turn 14, lost control of his car and crashed sideways into the turn 15 barriers.

Practice restarted with 17-and-a-half minutes remaining, meaning drivers lost 13-and-a-half minutes of running.

Colapinto wasted no time in getting a competitive laptime back next to his name, while Hauger lowered the pace to 1m44.990s. Martins set a 1m45.179s to jump straight back up to second, ahead of the improving Aron and Maloney.

Maini took third place a minute later with a 1m46.262s, then in the final 10 minutes DAMS’ Correa and Jak Crawford went one-two. Hauger immediately responded, going 0.618 seconds faster than Correa with a 1m44.039s, and Maloney improved again in third.

Martins reclaimed second on his next lap, and a few minutes later reduced Hauger’s advantage to 0.019s. Maini was just 0.027s slower in third, ahead of Correa and Colapinto.

There was even more change in the final minute. Martins broke into the 1m43s, and Bearman set a 1m44.127s to climb to fourth. With 30s to go Hauger snatched back top spot by 0.129s with a 1m43.793s, then at the last moment Maini demoted Martins to third with a 1m43.895s.

Bearman improved to 1m44.093 after the chequered flag and stayed in fourth, with Crawford, Verschoor and Correa split by 0.045s as they completed the top seven.

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