Richard Verschoor boosted his title hopes with victory in the Formula 2 sprint race at Losail.
The MP Motorsport driver lined up from reversed-grid pole, but a slow start initially cost him the lead to AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen.
Verschoor reclaimed the advantage on lap four, and he quickly escaped up the road before a safety car period put Duerksen back on his tail.
That was after a collision between Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen and debutant James Wharton put the latter out of the race.
Seven drivers took the opportunity to switch to soft tyres, including, DAMS’ Kush Maini who then stopped on track and delayed the restart.
Racing resumed on lap 17, and Verschoor pulled clear once more only for AIX Racing’s Cian Shields to cause another safety car period by spinning out.
One lap remained when green flags waved again, and Verschoor controlled the restart before leading home Derksen.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez was third ahead of Prema’s Sebastian Montoya and Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne.
Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli extended his points lead by finishing two places ahead of chief rival Jak Crawford in sixth.
Featured image credit: Formula 2 on X
