Theo Pourchaire wins strategy battle to take Imola F2 feature race, Jack Doohan in start-line crash
Theo Pourchaire has won the FIA Formula 2 feature race behind the safety car as Aussie Jack Doohan crashed out from the second row at the start.
Theo Pourchaire on track at Imola. (Formula Motorsport Limited)
Pourchaire held steady on the traditional strategy while alternate runners were unable to find a safe gap to pit without a mid-race safety car.
"I'm just so happy right now," said the Frenchman.
"P1 in Imola, such a legendary track."
"I'm so happy about the race, we were in a difficult moment after Jeddah and after the beginning of the weekend."
"I was learning the track Friday and had only three or four push laps to learn the track in practice, then did P7 in quali in the rain, and today we won the feature race."
Jüri Vips started on pole but was swamped by the chasing field, with Ralph Boschung and Roy Nissany battling wheel-to-wheel for the lead by turn one.
Nissany came out on top, leading the field up from sixth on the grid.
Meanwhile, Aussie Jack Doohan had started in third but collided with Dennis Hauger when they both dived for the same gap off the start, bringing out the safety car while Hauger's car was recovered.
The Israeli held his lead at the restart but the green flag running was not to last as pole-sitter Vips spun into the wall on lap five, bringing out the safety car once again.
The lap five incident was enough for runners on the softer tyre to dive into the pits, with Nissany leading a gaggle of ten drivers into the service lane.
Jehan Daruvala inherited the lead of the race ahead of Kiwis Marcus Armstrong and Liam Lawson, with Aussie Calan Williams in ninth as the final driver on the alternate strategy.
Behind Williams, Nissany held the net lead of the race as a period of green flag running limited the options for those who had elected to stay out.
As the laps ticked by the strategic window was closing for Daruvala and the pair of Kiwis at the front, with Lawson told by his team to just "go long and hope for a safety car."
The stalemate between the two packs of drivers on rival strategies was unbroken despite Nissany spinning out from the net lead of the race on lap twenty-one as the pit lane remaining closed under the virtual safety car.
By lap twenty-five the front pack began to peel off, and by the end of the cycle it was just Felipe Drugovich and Marino Sato remaining in the lead ahead of Pourchaire.
Lawson had a nasty spin into the wall with four laps remaining, with Drugovich and Sato barely missing the pit lane and guaranteeing the lead of the race to Pourchaire.
Pourchaire led Enzo Fittipaldi and Ralph Boschung over the line behind the safety car, with the chasing pair having earned their podium positions in a battle with American Logan Sargeant.
Daruvala was able to recover to ninth, the best finish for a runner on the alternate strategy, and taking a bonus point for the fastest lap.
Pourchaire now leads the championship standings on 52 points, ahead of Drugovich on 50 points.
"We just proved definitely that we will be here this year,” said Pourchaire.
Liam Lawson falls to fourth on 35 points after his weekend, with Kiwi Marcus Armstrong in seventh.
The 2022 FIA Formula 2 championship returns 20-22 May in Barcelona.
2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship - Imola Feature Race
- Theo Pourchaire
- Enzo Fittipaldi
- Ralph Boschung
- Clement Novalak
- Ayumu Iwasa
- Frederik Vesti
- Logan Sargeant
- David Beckmann
- Jehan Daruvala
- Felipe Drugovich
- Marino Sato
- Jake Hughes
- Marcus Armstrong (NZ)
- Olli Caldwell
- Richard Verschoor
- Calan Williams (AUS)
- Amaury Cordeel
- Liam Lawson (NZ) - DNF
- Roy Nissany - DNF
- Juri Vips - DNF
- Jack Doohan (AUS) - DNF
- Dennis Hauger - DNF
