Trident’s Richard Verschoor converted a front row start into a race victory in the Formula 2 Sprint Race in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
MP Motorsort’s Dennis Hauger finished 0.7s shy in second, with Hitech rookie Paul Aron finishing third.
There was one absent figure in the form of feature race pole-winner Oliver Bearman, with the Prema river stepping up to the Ferrari Formula 1 garage in place of Carlos Sainz, who is recovering from an appendicitis operation.
As a result, Aron inherited the reverse grid Sprint pole, with Verschoor, Isack Hadjar, Hauger and Andrea Kimi Antonelli completing the top five spots on the grid.
Enzo Fittipaldi started sixth, Victor Martins seventh, Jak Crawford eighth, Kush Maini ninth and Josep Maria Marti lined up at the end of the fifth row.
Championship leader and double Bahrain race winner Zane Maloney resigned to a lowly 15th place grid slot.
Initially slated to get underway at 18:10 local time, formation lap proceedings were slightly delayed to the tune of 10 minutes.
At lights out and Aron retained the lead into Turn 1, meanwhile Antonelli had a nightmare start from fifth, dropping down the order and getting embroiled in a mid pack melee, tagging the right rear of Crawford’s DAMS car and losing his front wing endplate.
Art Grand Prix’s Victor Martins also had trouble out of the first sequence of corners, sustaining damage as he was squeezed hard into the outside wall out the exit of Turn 2 and dropping out of the race
The Safety Car was then deployed before the end of the first lap with Williams Academy Drivers Zak O’Sullivan (ART GP) and Franco Colapinto (MP Motorsport) stalling at the race start, lucky not to be collected from those starting behind.
Aron led from Verschoor, Hadjar, Hauger and Maini as the field toured behind the Safety Car.
At the end of the fourth lap of 20 it was time for green flag racing with the Safety Car due to come back into the pits.
Aron pulled the pin on the restart ahead of the final corner and led the field at the start of Lap 5.
Maini attempted a pass on Hauger to take fourth toward the end of Lap 5 but to no avail, meanwhile Maloney successfully ascended into eighth at the start of Lap 6.
The pack at the front were tightly packed together with Aron snaking his way down the start/finish straight to start Lap 7 with Verschoor, Hadjar and Hauger all within two seconds of the race leader.
Keeping tabs on Aron was Verschoor and the Trident driver lunged down the inside of Turn 1 to take the lead on Lap 8 as Enzo Fittipaldi poached fifth and fastest lap in equal measure.
Hauger too a leaf out of Verschoor’s book as he picked of Hadjar for third into Turn 1 on Lap 10.
The Safety Car was then deployed for the second time after Amaury Cordeel Hitech spun and stopped on track at Turn 2 with the field carried through the pit-lane to complete half race. distance
As Lap 11 drew to a close the Safety Car returned to pitlan and it was Verschoor’s turn to lead the field back to green.
The Trident driver did so comfortably and maintained the lead as Maloney dove down the inside of Maini at Turn 1 to take sixth.
As the field rounded the circuit to start Lap 14, Fittipaldi vaulted Hadjar to take fourth and Crawford passed Maini for seventh, making his second overtake in as many laps.
Maloney tried a move on Hadjar around the outside of Turn 1 on Lap 15 but had to escape off road, passing the Red Bull Junior off track before giving the positon back, making him vulnerable to a hard charging Crawford who poached sixth off of the championship leader in the Tunr 22/23 sequence.
But Maloney reclaimed the position at the Start of Lap 16, with Antonelli up into the top 10 after passing Marti.
Out front with five laps remaining, Verschoor enjoyed 1.6s lead over Aron as debris littered the track in Sector 3 after Juan Manuel Correa clipped the wall, causing he American to retire and bringing out the yellow flag, then the Virtual Safety Car on Lap 17 to swiftly remove the stranded carbon.
Green flag conditions were reinstated with just over three laps remaining as Verschoor maintained his slight advantage and Aron had Hauger for close company.
Hauger used DRS to take second position at the start of Lap 18, subsequently setting the fastest lap but with Aron still on his tail.
Maloney’s charge from 15th continued at the start of the penultimate lap as he used Turn 1 again to make a move, this time on Hadjar to take fifth.
Hadjar’s race then went south as he slowed with an apparent technical problem, dropping out of contention and the points.
Verschoor held on out front to take a approximate one second winning margin over MP Motorsport’s Hauger in second, with Sprint polesitter Aron completing the podium and taking bonus point for fastest lap.
Fittipaldi took fourth for Van Amersoort Racing with Maloney rounding out the top five.
Crawford came home in sixth with Prema rookie Antonelli and Campos Racing’s Marti completing the top eight and the points paying positions.
