Verschoor boosts F2 title hopes by winning Losail sprint race

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor boosted his Formula 2 title chances by winning the sprint race at Losail.

A slow start from reversed-grid pole by Verschoor meant he lost the lead to AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen on lap one of 23.

There was 0.9 seconds between the pair before Verschoor began closing back in and he reclaimed the lead down the pit straight as lap four began.

The slipstream at that moment helped him then set the fastest lap and he escaped DRS range within a lap. It took another five for his lead to double to two seconds, and he consistently added to his gap.

Verschoor was on course to lower his fastest lap benchmark on lap 14 before the safety car came out and put Duerksen back on his tail. Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen and James Wharton had been battling at the bottom of the field and an incident at turn one sent debutant Wharton into retirement.

Seven drivers took the opportunity to pit, switching from Pirelli’s hard compound tyres to the softs, and within that group was DAMS’ Kush Maini who then came to a stop on track and prolonged the safety car period.

Racing resumed on lap 17, and Verschoor was unchallenged. He was able to lower his own pace as he built a 2.4s lead before the safety car returned on lap 20 due to AIX Racing’s Cian Shields spinning and then getting stranded on track.

One lap remained when green flags waved again, and Verschoor again had enough in hand to prevent Duerksen from attacking.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez and Campos Racing’s debutant Nikola Tsolov had started on the front row, with Tsolov passing for third on lap one. They went wheel-to-wheel again on the final lap and Tsolov came off worse, dropping to 10th. Villagomez returned to third, ahead of Prema’s Sebastian Montoya and Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne.

Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli grew his points lead over DAMS’ Jak Crawford by finishing sixth, two places ahead of his rival, with Verschoor now a further eight points back and ahead of Hitech GP’s Luke Browning who started 18th and finished 17th. Dunne also remains in title contention, but is 57 points behind.

ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins started eighth, lost two places on lap one and then on lap 12 ran wide at turn one and conceded two more positions. He could only gain back one place, from Prema’s Gabriele Mini on lap 18.

Roman Stanek was the top pitter. The Invicta driver fell from seventh to 15th by stopping, recovered one place from van Hoepen losing ground on the first restart then another when ART GP’s Ritomo Miyata was shuffled down the order on the next lap.

Race results (23 laps)