Oscar Piastri has stormed to victory in race two in Barcelona after starting fifth on the grid. Piastri is now only one point away from championship leader Logan Sargeant.
Matteo Nannini started on reverse grid pole ahead of MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor and Campos Racing’s Alex Peroni. Unfortunately for the young Italian driver Nannini it was a nightmare start with the Jenzer Motorsport quickly losing position and falling back into the clutches of the pack behind.
After some close wheel-to-wheel racing between the top three drivers, Piastri managed to surge ahead to take the lead of the race. Whilst Piastri attempted to secure his lead, Nannini recovered from his poor start to battle Peroni and reclaim second place. However, Nannini’s attempts to chase after race leader Piastri were temporarily scuppered as the Safety car was deployed following an incident involving Haugher, Pulcini, Fewtrell and Caldwell. Although both Haugher and Pulcini were able to keep going, Fewtrell and Caldwell found themselves in the gravel trap after taking avoiding action.
When racing resumed a few laps later, Piastri made a getaway from the pack behind. Over the following laps, the Australian driver was able to establish a three second gap whilst the drivers behind fought for position. The largest of these battles occurred between Nannini and Peroni in P2 and P3. Nannini managed to impressively defend against the challenge from the Campos for around five laps until Peroni made an audacious move on the main straight to pass the Jenzer Motorsport into turn one and secure P2.
Piastri’s attempts to build a substantial lead were proved to be in vain when the safety car was deployed once again. The deployment of the safety car occurred after Federico Malvestiti found himself beached in the gravel around turn 5. When racing resumed for the final time, Piastri proved to be in a league of his own bringing home his PREMA to secure victory ahead of Peroni and Nannini in P2 and P3.
Piastri’s closest championship rival Logan Sargeant fought well throughout the race to secure fourth. As a result, Piastri has now closed the gap to Sargeant in the championship to only one point. With only three rounds remaining, the end of the championship promises to provide an exciting battle between the PREMA teammates.
Drivers who finished in the Top 10
1. O. Piastri PREMA
2. A. Peroni Campos Racing
3. M. Nannini Jenzer Motorsport
4. R. Verschoor MP Motorsport
5. L. Sargeant PREMA
6. T. Pourchaire ART Grand Prix
7. L. Lawson Hitech Grand Prix
8. E. Fittipaldi HWA Racelab
9. D. Beckmann Trident
10. J. Hughes HWA Racelab
Featured Image Credit: @PREMA_Team Twitter
