Richard Verschoor storms to F2 championship lead with Austria victory
Dutchman Richard Verschoor made the most of a good start and a successful undercut to control the F2 feature race at the Red Bull Ring.
SPIELBERG–Dutchman Richard Verschoor shone in front of a sea of orange fans at the Red Bull Ring to take a decisive victory in the FIA Formula 2 sprint race and the lead of the championship standings.
The MP Motorsport driver moved up from third on the grid to challenge polesitter Leonardo Fornaroli by turn three on the opening lap.
The Italian held on to the lead after the first attempt from Verschoor but smart work from the MP Motorsport team saw him make an earlier pit stop and pull off an undercut on his rival.
The leaders made easy work of the runners on the alternate strategy within the next ten laps, with Verschoor back into the lead with ten laps remaining.
Alex Dunne dived past Victor Martins at turn four for net third position and soon it was Fornaroli and Pepe Martí beginning to eye their own moves on the Frenchman.
Fornaroli battled hard but was unable to permanently claim the position, falling behind Martí as the lap count ticked into the thirties.
A wheel-to-wheel attack from the Spaniard on Martins ended in tears at turn four as contact between the pair saw Fornaroli sneak up to net third and Martí cop a 10-second time penalty.
With the battle for third over, Verschoor led Dunne and Fornaroli over the line to claim a dominant victory.
"Super happy to have the biggest trophy today," said Verschoor.
"Amazing race, good start, good pace, and a good strategy, so a massive thank you to MP Motorsport and I’m looking forward to Silverstone."
Verschoor and Dunne are now 1-2 in the championship, with the Dutchman taking a 6-point lead on his Irish rival. Jak Crawford is third on 85 points while Fornaroli nibbled away at the gap to the top three, the Italian now fourth on 83 points.
The FIA Formula 2 championship returns next week at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.
