Double points finish caps Miami weekend for Hitech
Round 2 - Miami - Report
Hitech left Miami with a double points finish after a weekend that delivered strong early pace, close on-track battles, and a heavily disrupted Feature Race, where both drivers made the most of the opportunities available.
The first visit to the Miami International Autodrome added an extra challenge for the Formula 2 field, with weather conditions evolving into Sunday.
Despite starting both races outside the top ten, Ritomo Miyata and Colton Herta worked their way through the field to finish P6 and P8 in the Feature Race, securing a solid points haul to further boost their positions in the standings after just two rounds.
Practice
Hitech opened the weekend in strong form, with Colton Herta setting the pace to top Practice in front of his home crowd.
Ritomo Miyata also looked competitive from the outset, running inside the top ten as drivers adapted to the Miami circuit.
Qualifying
A tightly contested Qualifying session meant small margins throughout the field, with the team unable to fully maximise the promising pace. Herta secured P14 and Miyata P17, leaving both drivers with ground to recover across the weekend’s races.
Sprint Race
The Sprint developed into a busy midfield contest, with multiple position changes throughout the field.
On Lap 10, Biliński moved ahead of Colton in the midfield battle, before the fight intensified on Lap 13. The American responded strongly, closing in on Biliński and forcing an opportunity as he ran wide, allowing Colton through into P12. In the same phase, Ritomo also made progress and moved ahead.
The Cadillac Formula 1 Team test driver remained in close midfield battles, also keeping Bennett behind him. However, positions were quickly reshuffled, with both Bennett and Ritomo later moving ahead, followed by Biliński also regaining position, after a lock-up dropped Colton to P15.
The Japanese driver continued to make steady progress through the race, gaining five positions. On Lap 20, he moved ahead of Bennett to finish P12.
Feature Race
Sunday’s Feature Race was heavily shaped by wet conditions, with earlier rain leaving the circuit saturated and multiple interruptions influencing strategy and track position.
The race began behind the Safety Car before multiple Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car periods repeatedly reshaped the order.
Both Hitech drivers made strong early progress, with Colton running inside the top ten and Ritomo moving into points contention during the opening phase.
A bold strategy call briefly elevated Colton into P2 during the sequence of stops before he rejoined further down the order of the points-paying positions. Ritomo executed his strategy cleanly, rejoining in P6 and remaining in the points fight.
A late Safety Car with 12 minutes remaining closed the field back up, setting up a final sprint to the flag.
At the finish, Ritomo secured P6 after a composed drive through the chaos, while Colton recovered to P8 following a strategic and hard-fought race.
Ritomo Miyata:
“It was a tricky weekend with changing conditions, especially in the Feature Race with the rain and interruptions. We made progress through the weekend and managed the races well when it mattered.”
Ritomo continued:
“The pace was there and we brought home good points, which is important. There are still areas to work on, but we’ll take the positives and keep pushing.”
Colton Herta:
“Miami’s a great place to race - the atmosphere here has been incredible, and racing in front of the US fans has been something really special. We had strong pace this weekend and the car felt good, especially early on in practice on Friday.”
Colton continued:
“We didn’t quite convert it as well as we hoped, and the rain today kept things challenging. In both races, we were in the fight throughout and there’s definitely more to come from that. We’ll take the points and keep building.”
The team now carries the momentum through to another unexpected but welcome round in Montreal in three weeks’ time.
