Roman Stanek was the eventual winner of Formula 2’s feature race at Spa-Francorchamps, after a post-race penalty cost Alex Dunne both victory and the points lead.
Rodin Motorsport’s Dunne initially won the wet-weather contest ahead of Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad, but both drivers were subsequently penalised. Dunne was demoted to ninth in the final results by a 10-second penalty for not engaging the start set-up procedure at the beginning of the formation lap, while Lindlad was disqualified running tyres below the minimum allowed pressure.
Having initially finished third, Invicta Racing’s Stanek therefore inherited his second F2 victory.
Dunne had initially reclaimed the championship lead by mastering the tricky conditions at the front. He converted pole into the lead at the rolling start and resisted pressure on lap eight from ART Grand Prix’s Ritomo Miyata and Stanek.
The latter made his mandatory pitstop one lap earlier than his rivals, undercutting his way ahead of Miyata and briefly challenging Dunne who then prevailed in a scrap with the still-to-pit Oliver Goethe to take back the lead.
Miyata moved back ahead of Stanek into the chicane as Goeth dived for the pits,but the Japanese racer eventually spun and slipped to fourth behind Stanek and Lindblad.
Dunne built a four-second advantage before Prema’s Sebastian Montoya triggered a late safety car by spinning to a halt at Eau Rouge. Goethe’s car then ground to a halt and caught fire on the Kemmel Straight, resulting in the race being red-flagged on the penultimate lap and a provisional result being declared.
Stanek was later awarded victory ahead of Miyata, who took his best result, while Hitech GP’s Luke Browning climbed from 12th on the grid to eventually be classified third, despite a spin on the pit exit after making his mandatory stop.
Campos’ Pepe Marti was fourth, while Invicta’s Leonardo Fornaroli inherited the championship lead by being promoted to fifth. Prema’s Gabriele Mni was sixth ahead of Hitech’s Dino Beganovic, while ART’s Victor Martins was hampered by 10s penalty for exceeding track limits but still salavaged points in eighth.
Pre-race points leader Richard Verschoor and closest challenger Jak Crawford both failed to score, having both finished well down the order.
Featured image credit: Formula 2 on X
