Enzo Fittipaldi took the sprint FIA F2 win in Spa-Francorchamps in dry conditions, as Ciao Collet took the F3 win with no points.
F2:
There was an extra formation lap after PHM Charouz’s Joshua Mason stalled on the grid and went around for a lap. He was handed a drive through penalty for the start infringement, as reverse grid pole-sitter Jehan Daruvala made a good start in sprint F2 race at Spa.
The MP Motorsport driver led the way well from Van Amersfoort Racing’s Richard Verschoor who had to hold off Carlin’s Enzo Fittipaldi and ART’s Theo Pourchaire. Campos’ Ralph Boschung was fifth from charging Prema of Fredik Vesti.
He took MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger with ART’s Victor Martins passing Carlin’s Zane Maloney for the final point. As the replays of the start were being played, Daruvala had his headrest come off in the final corner to retire in a bizarre circumstances.
The safety car was deployed to collect the headrest and also recover a spinning Virtuosi’s Amaury Cordeel. It meant Verschoor took the lead from Fittipaldi on re-start with Pourchaire in third. Vesti and Hauger were ahead of Boschung before safety car.
Having lost the place to Vesti early on, Hauger came back on him in the re-start to be fourth as Martins passed Boschung for sixth as Maloney came back on Doohan to be eighth, with Prema’s Oliver Bearman rounding out the Top 10.
Verschoor continued to lead the way from Fittipaldi who resisted Pourchaire early on where the Frenchman fell into the clutches of Hauger. He managed to shake off Vesti who had Martins on his tail while Doohan moved himself up to seventh from Boschung.
DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa was the driver on charge having climbed up to ninth with Maloney in 10th with a time penalty for track limits. Just outside the Top 10, Bearman had a slight contact with DAMS’ Arthur Leclerc when the Monegasque tried a move on the inside.
But the door was closed which forced Bearman off the track and drop back. At the front, Fittipaldi clawed into the lead of Verschoor and eventually passed him on the Kemmel Straight to claim his first F2 win in sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps.
Verschoor had to settle for second from Pourchaire who defended third from Hauger with Martins in fifth after he cleared Vesti. The Dane even lost sixth to Doohan on the penultimate lap. He even came close to lose out to Iwasa in the final corner.
The two fought until the chequered flag where Vesti was pushed off and tarmac and he retained seventh from Iwasa. The move was put under investigation, as Boschung was ninth with Leclerc clearing Maloney on the final corner for 10th.
#F2 #BelgianGP Results SprintRace. #MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/DseaeebSe7
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) July 29, 2023
UPDATE: Richard Verschoor has been disqualified from the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race at Spa-Francorchamps after a technical breach. The Van Amersfoort Racing #22 was found to have used a throttle map not in compliance with Article 3.6.5 of the Technical Regulations for both the Formation Lap and Race start.
As a result, Verschoor loses P2, promoting ART Grand Prix’s Théo Pourchaire up to second and MP Motorsport driver Dennis Hauger onto the podium in third. It also moves Campos Racing driver Ralph Boschung up to eighth and the final point-paying position. Enzo Fittipaldi is now awarded with the additional fastest lap point.”
Full revised results: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Spa%20Francorchamps%20Event%20-%20F2%20Race%201%20-%20final%20classification.pdf
F3:
Hugh Barter nailed his start to retain the lead into La Source ahead of Aron and Barnard, but wheelspin under traction for the PREMA Racing man allowed the #27 Jenzer Motorsport car to sneak through for P2 on the approach to Eau Rouge.
Collet followed the Briton in passing Aron, and on the run to Les Combes, the pair overtook Barter along the Kemmel Straight to head the field in P1 and P2 respectively. Aron and Jonny Edgar were also able to pass the Campos Racing driver before the end of the first lap.
Through Blanchimont, Collet swept around the outside of Barnard to take the lead of the race before the Safety Car was deployed to recover a stranded Sebastián Montoya, who had spun out before Turn 9 after contact with Rafael Villagómez.
Back to racing conditions entering Lap 4, and the two PREMA teammates of Dino Beganovic and O’Sullivan battled into La Source. The Briton was able to make the pass around the outside to take sixth, before moving by Barter into Les Combes for fifth.
Heading into Pouhon, Martí and Gabriele Minì fought over 10th but mid-corner contact left the pair spinning off. In his efforts to rejoin, the Spaniard collected the Rodin Carlin of Ido Cohen, putting both out of the race along with Minì, who’d ended up in the gravel after the initial contact. The incident brought out the Safety Car once again.
With the Safety Car withdrawn going onto Lap 8, O’Sullivan pressured Edgar into a lock-up at Turn 1, moving himself up to fourth. Bortoleto was up to ninth position having started 15th on the grid, passing Beganovic heading into Lap 9 but his joy was short lived. Slight contact after a lock-up for the Swede tagged the Trident driver’s rear left tyre, leaving him stranded on track and out of the running.
With the recovery of Bortoleto’s car taking until the end of the penultimate lap, there was no more time to go racing and the field finished in formation behind race winner Collet under Safety Car conditions. Barnard had to settle for second with Aron third ahead of teammate O’Sullivan in. Edgar held off MP Motorsport teammate Franco Colapinto, in fifth and sixth respectively.
Barter fell to seventh in the end with Nikola Tsolov eighth, Beganovic ninth and Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning in P10. As the minimum of two racing laps were not completed without the intervention of the Safety Car, no points are awarded for the race as per the Sporting Regulations.
#F3 #BelgianGP Results of the SprintRace, which had 3 safetycars, a bit of rain and it ended behind the safetycar. #MsportXtra @circuitspa pic.twitter.com/ewORLne4yF
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) July 29, 2023
UPDATE: Upon review by the FIA, the points for this morning’s Formula 3 Sprint Race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit have been awarded after the full race distance was completed. Race winner Caio Collet adds 11 points to his tally after securing the fastest lap alongside his victory.
With the top 10 all awarded the full allocation of Sprint Race points, it means that third-place finisher Paul Aron is now second on 102 points ahead teammate of Zak O’Sullivan in third with 101 and Josep María Martí fourth on 100. In the Teams’ Standings, PREMA Racing increases its tally with the Italian outfit leading the way on 298 points. Trident remains second on 274 while Hitech Pulse-Eight stays third, now on 156 points.