Photo: Gedlich Racing
Formula Winter Series champion Dries Van Langendonck added two more wins to his tally at Barcelona.
The McLaren junior started on pole for race one, which took place on a wet track but with clear skies. He led into the opening corner, with Rodin Motorsport team-mate Ethan Lennon passing Van Amersfoort Racing’s Thomas Bearman.
US Racing’s Ary Bansal did a full pirouette between turns one and two, dropping from fourth to 14th, then the safety car appeared as team-mate Noah Killion spun off.
Racing resumed on lap four, and Van Langendonck sprinted away. Jenzer Motorsport’s Levi Arn and Teodor Borenstein exited the points positions by going off at turn five, and US’s Olexandar Savinkov ran wide at turn 12 after attempting a pass for fourth.
Campos Racing’s Timo Jungling ended lap four in that position, ahead of AKM Motorsport’s George Proudford-Nalder. Behind Savinkov was Cram Motorsport’s Samuel Ifrid and VAR’s Platon Kostin, who ran side-by-side until Kostin went off.
Proudford-Nalder attacked Jungling three times on lap six, then got past down the pit straight. Savinkov got back past Jungling on lap nine, with Bansal clearing him too after he had navigated past the battling Ifrid and Kostin then was almost sent off by Savinkov’s turn 10 defending.
Borenstein crashed out, prompting the safety car to return, eliminate Van Langendonck’s 6.7s lead and the big gap from fourth to fifth.
Two laps remained when green flags waved, and Van Langendonck won by 4.208s. Bearman had got past Lennon on the restart but used the turn two escape road so had to concede second place, then a 25s penalty for a start procedure infringement demoted him to 23rd. Jungling went off at turn five, and was penalised 10s so finished 22nd.
Proudford-Nalder attacked Rodin’s Alfie Slater repeatedly but could not get past, and US’s Arjen Kraling got past Kostin to be seventh.
The track was dry for race two the next day, and Bansal was only able to lurch away from his gearbox. Borenstein then slammed into the back of him.
Lennon overtook Bearman for second at turn one, but he reclaimed it through turn three before the safety car was summoned. The fielded headed through the pits until the lap five restart. Lennon and Slater went side-by-side into turn two and collided, with both going off and triggering another safety car period.
The next restart was on lap eight, and Van Langendonck kept Bearman at bay through the race’s second half. Proudford-Nalder had overtaken Arn on lap five, and the Rodin clash put him into third.
Ifrid and VAR’s Pedro Lima disputed fifth, with the latter getting past on lap 10. Savinkov followed through at turn one on lap 11, and US’s Ludovico Busso was next to attack him.
Lima swept past Arn for fourth in a daring move at turn nine on the penultimate lap, and Busso went around the outside of Ifrid a few corners later for seventh. Savinkov took fifth from Arn at turn one, with Killion exiting the battle for points by crashing out.
Results round-up
Race 1 (14 laps)
1 Dries Van Langendonck Rodin Motorsport 32m36.896s
2 Ethan Lennon Rodin Motorsport +4.208s
3 Alfie Slater Rodin Motorsport +5.927s
4 George Proudford-Nalder AKM Motorsport +6.404s
5 Ary Bansal US Racing +6.556s
6 Olexandar Savinkov US Racing +7.419s
7 Arjen Kraling US Racing +8.334s
8 Platon Kostin Van Amersfoort Racing +10.078s
9 Pedro Lima Van Amersfoort Racing +10.999s
10 Samuel Ifrid Cram Motorsport +11.773s
Fastest lap: Van Langendonck, 1m57.313s
Race 2 (14 laps)
1 Van Langendonck 32m23.126s
2 Thomas Bearman Van Amersfoort Racing +0.837s
3 Proudford-Nalder +5.122s
4 Lima +7.542s
5 Savinkov +8.508s
6 Levi Arn Jenzer Motorsport +9.293s
7 Ludovico Busso US Racing +11.112s
8 Kraling +11.534s
9 Ifrid +13.186s
10 Leon Hedfors Campos Racing +13.978s
FL: Van Langendonck, 1m44.072s
Championship standings
1 Van Langendonck 282 2 Bearman 147 3 Bansal 130 4 Savinkov 119 5 Alexander Ruta 93 6 Lennon 90 7 Slater 71 8 Rocco Coronel 70 8 Kraling 64 9 Lima 62