Taylor Barnard claims maiden F2 win in interrupted Monaco sprint race

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Taylor Barnard claimed his and AIX Racing’s maiden Formula 2 victory in an incident-filled sprint race in Monaco after fending off Gabriel Bortoleto at the start.

The win also awards Barnard his first points in the series after he was disqualified from Imola’s sprint race, where he had finished seventh.

Invicta Racing’s Bortoleto and MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger completed the podium in second and third place respectively.

Bortoleto had a good getaway and pulled alongside reversed-grid polesitter Barnard ahead of turn one. However, the Briton had the inside line and kept the lead of the race into turn one. Behind them, MP’s Franco Colapinto overtook Trident’s Roman Stanek around the outside of the first corner, as the latter was slow at the apex.

Further down the order, ART Grand Prix’s Zak O’Sullivan gained three positions to make the top 10. AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen and Campos Racing’s Pepe Marti both made up five places, the most of anyone.

The safety car came out before the end of the opening lap. ART GP’s Victor Martins had had a slow start and ended up with his nose making contact with the rear of DAMS’ Jak Crawford and then Marti, sustaining damage and crashing at Sainte Devote.

The action resumed at the end of lap two of 30. Hauger brushed the outside wall at the exit of Anthony Nogues as the cars entered the main straight but continued without damage. Prema’s Ollie Bearman attempted to pass O’Sullivan as he went into his inside at the hairpin. However, the Williams junior had the inside line into Portier and held on to 10th place.

A second safety car was deployed on lap six as Marti crashed at the exit of the second swimming pool chicane. The Spaniard clipped the yellow kerb and lost control of his car, which was sent into the wall. The track went green again at the end of lap eight.

On lap 11, Duerksen ran into the rear of Trident’s Richard Verschoor at the exit of Mirabeau. The Dutch hit the wall as a consequence damaging his front wing, which resulted in him pitting for repairs. Duerksen was handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident.

Bearman hit the outside wall at Anthony Nogues on lap 14, which bent his rear-right suspension, affecting the steering. Nonetheless, the Ferrari junior continued, but then suffered an engine cut at Portier on lap 20 dropping from 11th to 14th position.

Four laps later, DAMS’ Juan Manuel Correa ran into the back of Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney at Rascasse, spinning him round. Maloney had already touched the rear of O’Sullivan as they entered the corner.

Maloney stalled and Invicta’s Kush Maini got stuck. He was able to reverse but then stalled at the apex, blocking the track and bringing out the red flag.

The race resumed with a rolling start and some drivers opted to fit the super-soft compound for the five laps remaining.

Barnard restarted well and soon built a lead of over two seconds to Bortoleto. Meanwhile, Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli — first on the softest tyre — dropped back from Hauger to set the fastest lap on free air and earn an extra point.

Race results (30 laps)