Van Langendonck wins as Savinkov goes on super charge at Aragon

Photo: Phil Hay

Rodin Motorsport’s Dries Van Langendonck won the second Formula Winter Series race at Motorland Aragon, as US Racing’s Olexandar Savinkov went on a super charge.

Race two’s grid was set by drivers second-best laptimes in qualifying one the previous day, putting Van Amersfoort Racing’s Thomas Bearman on pole by 0.641 seconds over Van Langendonck.

There was a 1.803s gap to US’s Ary Bansal, with wet conditions having hampered many drivers’ laps, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Alexander Ruta was two seconds off pole in fourth. The next places on the grid were occupied by Samuel Ifrid (Cram Motorsport), Chiara Battig (Campos Racing), George Proudford-Nalder (AKM Motorsport), Levi Arn (Jenzer Motorsport) and Pedro Lima (VAR).

Having not set more than one lap at a representative pace, Savinkov and team-mate Noah Killion lined up 21st and 29th.

Lima jumped the start and was quickly into fourth, while Bansal took second then attacked Bearman at turn 16 on lap one. Bearman had to get defensive on lap two, as Savinkov entered the top 10. He had gained nine spots on the opening lap, and another two next time by.

Savinkov became the focal point of action over the next laps, passing Arn at turn 16 on lap five, then Proudford-Nalder at turn one on lap seven after setting the fastest lap. Further ahead, Van Langendonck got back past Bansal and the top three initially spread out.

The slipstream effect meant Van Langendonck was on Bearman’s tail down the back straight on lap 11 and he did a switchback move at turn 16 to get ahead. But Bearman got back past at the next corner and there was a 7.2s gap to Lima in third after he had fought his way past Bansal.

Van Langendonck overtook Bearman again through turn five on lap 12, and Bearman briefly got back alongside. He was dropped after that, and got a five-second track limits penalty, so the driver who finished second was Savinkov. He had overtaken Battig at turn 16 on lap 10, continuing to be fastest on track, and in a six-car group cleared Bansal, Lima and Ifrid by going off down the back straight two laps later.

There was contact as Bansal continued defending at the front of a six-car group, with Arn eventually getting past around the outside of turn one with three laps to go. US’s Arjen Kraling and Proudford-Nalder also cleared him, then Bansal held off even more drivers to finish ninth on-the-road.

Penalties then switched the order up. Lima got one for his start violation, but remained fourth, while 15 drivers were penalised five seconds for track limits abuse, three got 15s for the same offence, Markas Silkunas was penalised 40s, Jenzer team-mate Nicolas Cortes was penalised 55s and AS Motorsport’s Viktor Poulsen got a penalty for a different violation.

Teodor Borenstein (Jenzer), Mathilda Paatz (Mathilda Racing) and Alex Chartier (AS) were each promoted three places to finish eighth, ninth and 10th.

Van Langendonck’s victory extended his series lead over Bansal to 78 points, meaning he has one hand on the title with four races left of the season.

Race results (16 laps)