An exciting final qualifying before the grid head on their summer break would see ART’s Kush Maini take his second pole of the season but it would be Sebastian Montoya who would be on pole for Saturday’s reverse grid race. Championship contender Gabriele Mini would line up alongside him with Dino Beganovic in P3. 

OFF THE LINE

As the lights went out, it would be a good start off the line for Montoya who held the lead into turn one as championship leader Tsolov had yet another rapid start, seeing himself alongside Mini as they reached the braking zone of the first corner. Mini wold hold off Tsolov and settle in behind Montoya who had almost a second gap before lap one had completed. 

All drivers seemed to start the tyre-saving game quite early as they settled after a calm lap one, allowing the tyres to cool slightly for a few laps before another push. Montoya’s lead seemed to fluctuate between 0.5 to 1.3 seconds as the laps ticked off as the front runners found their groove in this 28-lap sprint. Down in the middle of the pack, a DRS train began to form as drivers were reluctant to push too quickly, wary of leaving themselves vulnerable at the end of the race.

A tricky middle stint

The first real battle of the race began on lap 8 as Mini found himself within striking distance of Montoya, trying his first attack into turn one with the aid of DRS before another shot into turn two. His attempts would come short as he slotted back in behind, the gap back to Tsolov coming down ever so slightly as the front runners edged into another DRS train. 

With almost the entire pack stuck within each other’s DRS, overtaking opportunities looked to be hard to come by, drivers having to be careful as one wrong or short move could cost them multiple places. Mini would look to be the driver with the pace as the race neared the halfway point, as he began to set fastest lap after fastest lap, trying to get as close as possible to mount a move on Montoya, who was holding his own out in front. 

After a few laps of sitting back, allowing the tyres to cool off, Mini began his next attack as the race hit lap 16, closing back up to the back of Montoya who had been controlling the race well so far. As they rounded the corner onto lap 17, Mini would find himself right on the back of Montoya, pulling aside the Colombian who locked up into turn one, allowing Mini to get the drive and the race lead, solidifying his position into turn two as Tsolov closed up to the back of the Prema.

Championship leader out 

The race would be turned on its head heading onto lap 21 as Tsolov dived down the inside of Montoya into the first corner, the pair colliding with the latter out of the race after a good drive from pole as the Bulgarian limped around to the pit lane, the team deeming the damage was too severe as the championship leader found himself out of the race. 

As the virtual safety car was thrown, multiple drivers at the back of the pack threw the dice and dove into the pit lane, taking the gamble as they bolted on the softs in hopes of a full safety car. Their wishes were not granted as the race went back to green. The battling would continue at the back end of the points as Noel Leon and Joshua Durksen went wheel to wheel through turns one and two, the former getting the better of the Invicta driver with an elbows-out move before receiving a five-second penalty for a VSC infringement. 

The final stretch 

Rafael Camara and Laurens Van Hoepen began a fight for the final step on the podium, the Ferrari junior seeing a podium in his grasp as Van Hoepen ran slightly wide, but it was not enough just yet for the Brazilian to make the move. Out in front, Mini was gapping the chasing pack with an impressive 4-second lead heading onto the final lap of the race. 

As the checkered flag flew, Mini would claim his second win of the season and fire himself right back into the championship fight with Tsolov’s DNF. Beganovic would claim yet another sprint race podium and Van Hoepen would hold off the late-charging Camara to step onto the final step of the podium. 

Rounding out the points would be Camara, Maini, Inthraphuvasak, Durksen and Martinius Stenshorne as Noel Leon’s five-second penalty dropped him just outside the points by 0.2 of a second. 

A lot of learning for all the teams and drivers heading into the feature race tomorrow as Mini will look to take even more points out of the lead and truly put himself rough back in this exciting championship fight. 

Featured Image Credits: Mp Motorsport on Instagram