Jak Crawford grew to become the tenth completely different winner of the Formulation 2 season after executing an undercut technique on championship chief Paul Aron within the Spanish function race.
Crawford proved his tempo throughout the Spanish weekend to take his first win of the season from Franco Colapinto and Juan Manuel Correa, with the latter more likely to steal the headlines after making the alternate technique work to say a primary podium since making his F2 return – this after being stripped of a podium on Saturday.
It was a composed begin for polesitter Aron who led Crawford and Colapinto into the primary nook, however there was chaos behind as Saturday’s dash race winner, Victor Martins, received tangled with Dennis Hauger and brought about the protection automobile to be known as into early motion.
Hauger, who began on the delicate tyre, had made a rocket begin and climbed six positions earlier than he climbed throughout the Flip 2 kerbs and bounced his MP Motorsport entry into the aspect of Martins’ ART.
Whereas behind the protection automobile, Roman Stanek (Trident) reported that Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Prema) was trailing dry ice that was “flying into my eyes”, one thing that contravenes the laws. The pair have been collectively on the monitor after each being compelled to begin from the pitlane – Antonelli failing to launch from the grid for the formation lap after qualifying in fifth.
With tyre put on extraordinarily excessive on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, AIX driver Joshua Durksen started to make strikes by means of the entrance order together with his exhausting rubber, climbing previous Isack Hadjar for sixth on lap eight.
And it was on the finish of that tour that these on delicate tyres started to bail for the tougher compound, most notably Crawford from second in a bid to undercut Aron. From fifth, Invicta pitted Gabriel Bortoleto on lap 10.
High two Aron and Colapinto stopped on lap 11 with each drivers enduring sluggish stops. Because the pair returned to the monitor, Crawford discovered himself sandwiched between the pair however, together with his tyres heat already, he shortly discovered a method by means of to realize the web race lead.
Because the pit cease shake up performed out, the Digital Security Automobile was briefly deployed to permit for the restoration of Taylor Barnard’s AIX entry which had stopped close to to the pit entry.
Having begun to place stress on Crawford, Aron’s probability of victory disintegrated on Lap 15 when a snap of oversteer noticed him lose management and slide into the gravel on the ultimate nook. His return to the monitor was then shortly underneath investigation by the stewards after he minimize throughout the entrance of Zak O’Sullivan. No additional motion was the shortly given resolution.
Lap 17 then noticed catastrophe for Durksen, who was main the race on the exhausting tyre however was but to cease. With a spot of 28 seconds to the lead drivers that had stopped, the AIX driver had regarded more likely to obtain a high 5 end.
Following this newest digital security automobile interval, Aron battled his well past O’Sullivan whereas Bortoleto made a transfer on Colapinto for a web second place – each utilizing the tow into Flip 1. These positions have been once more reversed a handful of laps later, with Colapinto showing extra keen to push his tyres tougher than the Invicta driver at that time.
With 10 laps to go, chief Juan Manuel Correra (DAMS) stopped to rid himself of his exhausting tyres and match the softs, dropping him to sixth after the remaining drivers pitted.
Aron’s restoration drive continued at this level, as he used DRS to move Bortoleto for what can be a web third place.
However this place got here underneath risk from an unlikely supply as Correa made mild work of Hadjar and Bortoleto. Such was the priority over his tempo that Colapinto – six seconds up the street – was warned to hurry as much as negate the hazard.
On lap 33, with 5 remaining, Correa made his transfer on an totally defenceless Aron into Flip 1 to place himself onto the rostrum, an final result that he’ll view as retribution for Saturday, when his end result was taken away by means of a post-race monitor limits penalty.
In the beginning of the ultimate lap, the Invicta pit wall watched on in horror as team-mates Bortoleto and Kush Maini collided at Flip 1, though each have been capable of attain the chequered flag in sixth and seventh, albeit with injury.
Crawford took the flag by 1.4s from Colapinto, whereas Correa’s cost ended shortly after his move on Aron with the tyre compounds levelling on tempo.
