After ending four-year victory drought at the last round, Leonardo Fornaroli won again in a disrupted Formula 2 sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps
Lining up from third on the partially-reversed grid, the Invicta Racing driver immediately snatched the lead by beating front-row starters Oliver Goethe and Amaury Cordeel into La Source. Further down the field, three of Fornaroli’s title rivals came together on the exit of turn one, causing an early safety car period.
Hitech GP’s Luke Browing and DAMS’ Jak Crawford were fired off into the gravel, with the latter able to continue, while MP Motorsport’s points leader Richard Verschoor suffered damage and joined Browning in retirement after subsequently spinning to a halt at Eau Rouge.
Fornaroli remained ahead at the restart, and he defended against Cordeel into Les Combes on lap six before edging his way out of DRS range. Goethe was eventually dispatched from third by ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins, who then closed in on Cordeel.
Martins made his bid for second into Les Combes on lap 12, sweeping around the outside of Cordeel, who made contact as he fought to keep the place and slid into the gravel – ending his hopes of a podium on home soil.
That brought out the safety car for a second time, with 15 drivers using the opporunity to pit for fresh tyres. The top three – as well as Prema’s Gabriele Mini and AIX Racing’s Cian Shields – opted to stay out.
There were five laps remaining when the safety car peeled in. Fornaroli edged clear once more, while Mini picked off Goethe for third. Campos Racing’s Pepe Marti – the highest-placed driver on new tyres – quickly moved past Shields, who soon also lost out to Invicta’s Roman Stanek and Rodin Motorsport’s title contender Alex Dunne.
Having dived past Stanek for sixth at the beginning of lap 15, Dunne then challenged Marti on the next tour. The McLaren junior opted to back out into Eau Rouge before trying another move on the Kemmel Straight, but ended up slipping back behind Stanek.
The racing was neutralised for a third time when Trident’s Sami Meganatounif came to halt on track before Les Combes on the penultimate lap, resulting in the race finishing behind the safety car.
Fornaroli therefore took victory ahead of Martins and Mini, and the trio were followed home by Goethe, Marti, Stanek and Dunne. ART’s Ritomo Miyata scored the final point in eighth, while Campos’s Arvid Lindblad survived late contact with Hitech’s Dino Beganovic to finish ninth.
Crawford recovered to 11th behind Van Amersfoort Racing’s John Bennett.
Verschoor continues to lead the standings from Crawford, Fornaroli and Dunne, but the gap between the quartet has closed to 10 points.
Featured image credit: Formula 2 on X
