Verschoor wins ahead of Dunne in Barcelona F2 sprint after late pitstop

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Richard Verschoor won the Barcelona Formula 2 sprint race ahead of Alex Dunne after they pitted for fresh tyres during a late safety car. 

An incident between Prema team-mates Gabriele Mini and Sebastian Montoya prompted the safety car with just nine laps remaining. With tyre wear high on the Spanish circuit, a handful of drivers dived into the pits for fresh rubber for the end of the race.

Leading that group was Verschoor, who had already had an action packed race fighting back from a poor start. When racing resumed, Verschoor cut his way up through the order, quickly coming up behind race leader Jak Crawford. There was little Crawford could do to hold him off and Verschoor took the race lead two laps before the chequered flag.

Dunne, who started 19th after a double grid penalty, was close behind the MP Motorsport driver but there was no chance to challenge for the victory. Verschoor came home 0.3 seconds ahead of Dunne to pick up his second win of the season.

It was a race of two halves in Barcelona, with Crawford controlling the lead through the first half. 

Luke Browning had swept past the front row to take the lead on the opening lap, with Crawford following close behind. Leonardo Fornaroli tried to reclaim second but Crawford held him off and was soon challenging Browning. The pair made slight contact and Crawford was almost sent wide but he held onto take the position.

Once ahead, the leaders settled into a rhythm, conserving tyres while those behind battled.

Verschoor started directly behind Crawford on the grid but had slipped backwards after a poor start and was now at the tail end of the top 10. He attempted a move past Arvid Lindblad down the inside of Turn 1 and the pair came together, Lindblad spinning and dropping down the order. Verschoor kept on pace but came under attack from Pepe Marti, losing a position to the other Campos driver. 

However, the battle would mean little when Mini and Montoya came together. The duo had been fighting outside the top 10 when Mini attempted to go around the outside of Montoya, only for the two to come together. Montoya spun and Mini attempted to continue round the corner, only to spin with damage. Montoya continued and was another visitor to the pits.

The incident started the second half of the race. Crawford, Browning, and Fornaroli led the field behind the safety car, but with old hard tyres they could put up little fight to those on fresh soft rubber. Verschoor cut forward from 10th after the safety car to lead the race in just a handful of laps.

Crawford slipped back behind Dunne and Rafael Villagomez, who started last in 22nd on the grid, but managed to hold off Montoya for fourth.

Victor Martins, another driver who came into the pits after a difficult start to the race, finished sixth ahead of Browning and Fornaroli. Lindblad and Sami Meguetounif completed the top 10.

Race results (26 laps)