Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Mirko Bortolotti extends Formula 2 points lead with Nurburgring race one victory

Mirko Bortolotti claimed his third Formula 2 win of the season by leading from lights to flag in this afternoon's opening race at the Nurburgring

The Italian scorched away from pole, as lightning starts from Jack Clarke (row three) and Christopher Zanella (row four) helped them vault up into second and third places through the opening sequence of turns.

Zanella demoted Clarke on the next lap before scampering off after Bortolotti. He closed to within 1.5 seconds of the leader in the first quarter of the 20-lap race, before his rival responded and edged the gap out again.

Zanella could deliver the odd lap quicker than Bortolotti, but the Italian usually had a few tenths in hand and eventually crossed the line 6.7s clear to extend his narrow lead over Zanella in the title race.

Clarke scored his best result of the season so far by completing the podium, while Miki Monras overcame a disappointing qualifying performance to finish fourth from eighth on the grid.

The Spaniard was helped by four of his rivals all running into trouble ahead of him. Marinescu ended his race in the Ford Kurve gravel trap on lap four, while Ramon Pineiro had to serve a drive-through penalty for being out of position at the start.

Will Bratt and Alex Brundle came together at the last corner on the fifth lap, which dropped Bratt to seventh and put Brundle out of the race.

Thus Monras came through to fourth, trying unsuccessfully to chase down Clarke over the remainder of the race. Jordan King had a lonely run to fifth, well clear of Kelvin Snoeks, with Bratt falling steadily away.

Mikkel Mac, Thiemo Storz (up from 15th on the grid) and Johannes Theobald completed the top 10.

Results - 20 laps:

Pos  Driver                  Time/Gap
 1.  Mirko Bortolotti      36m53.111s
 2.  Christopher Zanella     + 6.705s
 3.  Jack Clarke            + 15.068s
 4.  Miki Monras            + 16.535s
 5.  Jordan King            + 27.425s
 6.  Kelvin Snoeks          + 32.115s
 7.  Will Bratt             + 37.178s
 8.  Mikkel Mac             + 37.757s
 9.  Thiemo Storz           + 38.384s
10.  Johannes Theobald      + 42.267s
11.  Maxim Snegirev         + 43.462s
12.  Tobias Hegewald        + 44.387s
13.  Benjamin Lariche       + 45.486s
14.  Ramon Pineiro          + 45.498s
15.  Armaan Ebrahim         + 46.569s
16.  Julian Theobald        + 49.227s
17.  Plamen Kralev          + 57.311s
18.  James Cole           + 1m01.936s
19.  Sunghak Mun          + 1m02.508s
20.  Fabio Gamberini      + 1m23.062s

Retirements:

     Alex Brundle              5 laps
     Mihai Marinescu           3 laps

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Mirko Bortolotti dominates Formula 2 qualifying at the Nurburgring
Next article Mirko Bortolotti on Nurburgring Formula 2 pole again

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe