F2 Imola: Pourchaire wins feature race after Nissany crashes out

Sauber junior Pourchaire, who started in seventh for ART Grand Prix, avoided a startline crash involving Prema’s Dennis Hauger and Jack Doohan (Virtuosi) to claim fifth by the first corner.

After pitting for medium tyres under a safety car caused by polesitter Juri Vips (Hitech Grand Prix) spinning out of fourth, he passed Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung for a net second place on lap 19 before Nissany crashed out two laps later.

Pourchaire was unchallenged thereafter and took his second feature race win of the year after opening his account in Bahrain.

From 15th on the grid, Enzo Fittipaldi kept his nose clean before claiming net second place from Boschung just four laps from the end to secure his maiden series podium for Charouz Racing System, as Boschung finished third.

At the start, front row men Vips and Ayumu Iwasa got a sluggish getaway, with Boschung firing through the middle of them. Doohan and Hauger tried to follow him, but collided to put both out of the race.

Nissany meanwhile had made a great start from sixth on the grid after going to the right of Iwasa, and held on around the outside of Boschung to lead the Swiss, Iwasa, Vips and Pourchaire.

Following the restart, Vips ran wide exiting the Villeneuve chicane and spun across the track into the barriers on the right-hand side of the road, bringing out another safety car.

The top four pitted under the first safety car period, leaving Prema’s Jehan Daruvala out front on the alternate strategy, having started on the medium compound.

Pourchaire took victory under the safety car ahead of Fittipaldi and Boschung

Photo by: Alfa Romeo

While the Indian driver held the actual lead, Nissany ran out front of those who had already pitted, but ran wide at the final corner and was pitched into the wall while chasing the yet-to-stop Calan Williams.

After the virtual safety car ended, Daruvala began to stretch his lead over second-placed Marcus Armstrong (Hitech) and Liam Lawson (Carlin).

Daruvala pitted on lap 26, emerging 14th, while second-placed Armstrong followed suit the next lap but suffered a poor pitstop, with a rear right problem leaving his wheels spinning on the jack.

With five laps remaining, the yet to stop trio of championship leader Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport), Marino Sato (Virtuosi) and Ollie Caldwell (Campos) headed net leader Pourchaire in fourth.

Logan Sargeant had moved ahead of Boschung for a net second place on lap 31, but a mistake at Variante Alta dropped him behind the Campos driver and a charging Fittipaldi.

The Williams junior was then shuffled back further positions by Clement Novalak (MP Motorsport), Iwasa (who had been forced to double-stack behind Nissany in the pits) and Pourchaire's team-mate Frederik Vesti to finish a frustrated seventh.

Moments after Fittipaldi passed Sargeant, the Charouz driver took his chance to pass Boschung around the outside of Tamburello to claim his first series podium.

A crash for Lawson out of Acque Minerali prompted the final safety car period on lap 32, with the field following the Bernd Maylander-driven Aston Martin Vantage until the chequered flag.

Pourchaire celebrates the spoils of victory with Fittipaldi and Boschung

Photo by: Alfa Romeo

Drugovich finally pitted under the safety car and emerged tenth, one spot behind Daruvala in ninth, with fellow late-stoppers Sato and Caldwell 11th and 14th respectively.

Pourchaire's victory puts him into the championship lead by two points over Drugovich.

F2 Imola feature race result - 35 laps

Cla	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	Theo Pourchaire	ART Grand Prix	-
2	Enzo Fittipaldi	Charouz Racing System	0.300	0.300
3	Ralph Boschung	Campos Racing	0.700	0.700
4	Clement Novalak	MP Motorsport	1.400	1.400
5	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	1.800	1.800
6	Frederik Vesti	ART Grand Prix	2.100	2.100
7	Logan Sargeant	Carlin	2.500	2.500
8	David Beckmann	Charouz Racing System	3.200	3.200
9	Jehan Daruvala	Prema Powerteam	4.100	4.100
10	Felipe Drugovich	MP Motorsport	4.300	4.300
11	Marino Sato	Virtuosi Racing	4.800	4.800
12	Jake Hughes	Van Amersfoort Racing	5.000	5.000
13	Marcus Armstrong	HitechGP	6.200	6.200
14	Olli Caldwell	Campos Racing	6.700	6.700
15	Richard Verschoor	Trident	7.200	7.200
16	Calan Williams	Trident	7.700	7.700
17	Amaury Cordeel	Van Amersfoort Racing	1'21.400	1'21.400
	Liam Lawson	Carlin	5 laps
	Roy Nissany	DAMS	15 laps
	Jüri Vips	HitechGP	30 laps
	Jack Doohan	Virtuosi Racing	34 laps
	Dennis Hauger	Prema Powerteam	35 laps
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