A tough conclusion to the F2 triple-header
Round 6 - Spain - Report
After five podiums in five races, Round 6 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship proved a more challenging conclusion to the Imola-Monaco-Spain triple-header for Hitech TGR. We leave Barcelona with three points and some ground to recover in the battle for both titles.
The competitive action always gains new momentum at this point in the season and this was a weekend that didn’t go our way and underlined just how fiercely contested both championships are going to be.
As the Sprint got underway, Luke got a superb getaway and leapfrogged pole-sitter Fornaroli and Duerksen alongside him before Turn 1. He held position until Lap 4 when Crawford got past the Williams Academy driver, who managed to keep the gap to 0.9s at the end of lap 9. Shortly after, the DAMS driver succeeded in escaping DRS range and with the gap now 1.1s, Browning also came under pressure from the advancing Fornaroli and Duerksen.
A Safety Car on Lap 18 bunched up the field and when racing resumed three laps later, those who had switched to the Soft tyre in the meantime were coming thick and fast through the field and it became harder to maintain position. Luke went on to finish seventh, earning three points. Dino came home 15th.
In Sunday’s Feature Race, Luke got off to another good start and he moved into fifth position. An early Safety Car followed, and when racing resumed at the end of Lap 7, he made a bold move around Taponen for fourth. He pitted two laps later and was looking good for a strong points-paying position that would pay off when those on the alternative strategy would stop later in the race.
On Lap 22, there was contact between Luke and Miyata and he was forced to pit again for a new front wing. He switched back to the Soft tyre but there was little chance of recovery from the back of the field and a 10-second penalty compounded a disappointing result that saw him finish in P20. He slips to fifth in the Driver Standings.
For Dino, on the alternative strategy, he went long, pitting on Lap 34, but a second Safety Car that could have provided an opportunity came out shortly after his stop and it was an otherwise straightforward race for him. He finished P15.
The team, which also dropped to second in the standings, will now regroup during the four-week break and aim to come back strong for the next phase of the calendar, which gets underway at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on 27-29 June. The second of three double-headers, the team’s home race at Silverstone, follows just one week later.