Formula 2’s first ever race in Montreal produced plenty of action and a maiden winner, with Noel Leon climbing from third to take victory.
The Campos Racing driver prevailed in a frenetic battle with Joshua Duerksen before picking off early leader Gabriel Mini – the latter taking over the points lead despite having to settle for second at the chequered flag.
MP Motorsport’s Mini converted reversed-grid pole into the lead when the lights went out, while fellow front-row starter Rafael Villagomez bogged down and lost out to Leon.
Invicta Racing’s Duerksen drew alongside Villagomez into turn one, and while trying to complete the move into the next corner he tagged the rear of Leon who was pushed wide.
Duerksen benefitted from the clash to sweep by into second approaching turn three despite the pair touching wheels, but he wasn’t there for long as Leon wrestled the place back at the end of lap two.
The battle raged on during the early stages, with Duerksen moving back ahead into the final chicane two laps later, but he then ran wide while defending into the same corner on lap eight – allowing Leon back through once more.
Duerksen, meanwhile, was keeping the squabbling duo in his sights, and he was closely followed by Villagomez, John Bennett, Martinius Stenshorne and Nikola Tsolov, but the order soon changed due to an incident at the hairpin.
Under braking, Tsolov tagged the rear of Stenshorne who then collected Bennett, spinning the latter in retirement and causing a brief safety car period.
Leon immediately challenged Mini for the lead at the restart but couldn’t get by, while Duerksen was handed a five-second time penalty for his lap one incident with Leon, and his woes by losing third to Villagomez at the hairpin.
Duerksen wasted no time in reclaiming the place before the lap was completed despite running off the road at the final chicane – and he was then instructed to let Villagomez back through.
Stenshorne soon pinched fourth from Duerksen, who ran wide and briefly lost a further place to Tsolov before fighting his way back past.
Duerksen’s race came to an end after being rear-ended by Alex Dunne into the hairpin, the Rodin Motorsport driver incurring a 10s penalty, and the safety car was required once more.
By this stage the lead had changed hands, with Leon having swept past Mini before the final chicane, and Leon aced the restart and controlled the remaining seven laps finish 3.7s clear.
Villagomez crashed into the wall in the closing stages, allowing Stenshorne to grab his first F2 podium. Dunne was relegated to 13th by his penalty, though he still remained one place ahead of Tsolov, who was also penalised 10s for the clash which eliminated Bennett.
Laurens Van Hoepen, who will start from pole in Sunday’s feature race, claimed fourth ahead of Emmo Fittipaldi, Dino Beganovic, Rafael Camara and Roman Bilinski, while Colton Herta missed out a points-finish in ninth.
There was a further collision on the final lap, with Mari Boya appearing to slow out of the hairpin, with the pursuing Nico Varrone then hit from behind by Cian Shields.
Featured image credit: Formula 2 on X
