SPRINT RACE: Colapinto produces final lap overtake to achieve maiden F2 victory in Imola

MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto claimed his first win in Formula 2, producing a last lap overtake on Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron to take the victory in a dramatic Sprint Race around Imola.

The Argentine survived losing a place at the start and came through from P3 to take the win, while Rodin Motorsport’s Championship leader Zane Maloney took the final spot on the podium.

AS IT HAPPENED

Aron made a fast start from P3, getting ahead of Colapinto and teammate Amaury Cordeel to take the lead into Turn 3. But the Safety Car was immediately required following contact between Roman Stanek and Isack Hadjar that led to several other incidents.

The Campos Racing driver spun into the path of AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi leading them to collide. At the same time, MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger hit Stanek while looking to take avoiding action.

We were back to racing on Lap 6 as Aron extended his lead over his teammate Cordeel. A lap later, the Belgian went wide at the penultimate corner giving Colapinto the chance to overtake him for P2 down the main straight.

By Lap 9, Colapinto was beginning to close the gap to Aron while Cordeel, having dropped back from the top two, was coming under pressure from Zane Maloney, Oliver Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto.

On Lap 12, Colapinto was now within DRS range of Aron, while Maloney was beginning to attack Cordeel. However, both Hitech cars were proving difficult to pass. Elsewhere, Bearman was beginning to come under pressure from Bortoleto and AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard.

After biding his time behind the Hitech car, Maloney finally made his move past Cordeel around the outside at Turn 3 on Lap 22, putting him on course for his fourth podium of the year.

On the penultimate lap and having dropped back from the leader, Colapinto closed on Aron once more before making a last lap move past his fellow rookie around at the outside at Tamburello.

The move earned the MP driver his first victory in Formula 2, while Aron took second place ahead of Maloney. Cordeel finished in fourth place while Bearman was able to hold off Bortoleto to finish in P5.

Taylor Barnard delivered his first points in F2 for AIX Racing in seventh, while Richard Verschoor rounded out the points paying positions in P8.

KEY QUOTE – Franco Colapinto, MP Motorsport

"I'm super happy, first win in Formula 2, it's a very special day for me and for every Argentinian that has been supporting me so far. I'm super proud of the team, very proud of everyone who has been supporting me. Thank you, thank you. Thank you to all the fans and let us hope for more wins in the next few races."

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Zane Maloney stays at the top of the Drivers’ Championship and moves to 68 points. However, Paul Aron closes the gap on the Rodin driver slightly having finished in P2 and trails by just 13 points. Franco Colapinto’s victory in the Sprint Race and his point for the fastest lap gives him a total of 11 points and lifts him to ninth in the Standings.

In the Teams’ Championships, Hitech Pulse-Eight close the gap to leaders Rodin Motorsport thanks to both Aron and Cordeel scoring points with the gap between the top two now just 12 points.

MP Motorsport have moved up to third and now have 65 points, while Campos Racing drop to fourth in the leaderboard as Invicta Racing continue rounding out the top five.

UP NEXT

Next on the schedule in Imola is the Feature Race which is set to get underway at 10:00 local time on Sunday morning. Who will take to the top step before the Championship heads to Monte Carlo.