Formula 2 News: Lindblad holds off Duerksen to claim victory at Yas Marina

Arvid Lindblad (pictured) was pushed right to the end by Joshua Duerksen, holding off his AIX Racing rival across the line to claim victory of the Yas Marina Sprint Race.

The Campos Racing driver led from start to finish, giving him a third win of the season, with Duerksen ending up second. Nikola Tsolov made it two cars on the podium for the Spanish outfit, achieving his first Formula 2 podium in third.

AS IT HAPPENED

Lindblad and Duerksen were even at the start, as the Campos driver kept the lead heading into Turn 1. Having started third, Victor Martins was down to P5 at the start, before Dino Beganovic demoted him to P6 later in the lap.

The top two were pulling away on Lap 2, as Duerksen set the fastest lap, closing to within half a second of Lindblad.

Beganovic was showing good pace as he had Oliver Goethe in his sights, and was six-tenths behind at the start of Lap 5.

Further down the field, Sebastián Montoya, having had a slow start from sixth, was now in P17, and made a nice move on the brakes into the Turn 6 chicane on Luke Browning for P16.

Tsolov, in third, was pulling away from the Goethe and Beganovic battle, while also closing the gap on Duerksen to 3.9s on Lap 8.

However, the Bulgarian’s progress was halted briefly when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, with John Bennett having stopped on track at Turn 5.

The VSC ended on Lap 9, and Duerksen was pushing hard to get ahead of Lindblad. However, he ran too deep at Turn 12 and off the track, dropping out of DRS range to the race leader.

As the 23-lap race hit the halfway point, the majority of the field settled into management mode, looking to make sure their Medium tyres lasted until the end. However, Martins in P6, was being closely followed by Alexander Dunne, Gabriele Minì and Jak Crawford.

Dunne looked to go around the outside of the ART Grand Prix driver at Turn 9 on Lap 13, but quickly found the door shut by Martins.

Crawford and Minì then went wheel-to-wheel at the Turn 6 chicane on the next lap, with the DAMS Lucas Oil driver completing a nice move to take eighth place.

Goethe was doing a good job of holding on to fourth place from Beganovic, and the Hitech TGR driver looked to brave it around the outside at Turn 9 on Lap 16, but again found no way through.

The Swedish driver looked to make the same move at the same corner on the next lap, and on this occasion was able to take fourth from his MP Motorsport rival.

Further back, Crawford’s charge continued, as he got past Dunne for seventh at Turn 6.

Lap 19 started with Duerksen having closed to within 1.6s of Lindblad out in front, as he looked to make a late charge for the win. Minì was struggling, and was coming under pressure from Roman Stanek and Leonardo Fornaroli.

Crawford was right on the back of Martins on Lap 20, and once again the American was looking to make a move at Turn 6. However, the pair made contact, leaving the DAMS car with front wing damage, although he was able to take P6 heading into Turn 9.

The VSC was deployed on the next lap so the end plate could be retrieved from the track, and once the action resumed, Duerksen’s pursuit of Lindblad continued, with the AIX driver 1.1s behind heading on to Lap 22.

Onto the final lap, the lead out in front was 0.9s, but even with the DRS advantage, Duerksen could not make a move, giving Lindblad his third win of the season ahead of the Paraguayan.

Tsolov took his maiden F2 podium in third, with Beganovic fourth ahead of Goethe. Crawford finished in P6, ahead of Martins, as Dunne rounded out the points in eighth.

FROM THE GRID – Arvid Lindblad, Campos Racing

“A good result today, happy to take away the win. Just looking forward to tomorrow now.”

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Leonardo Fornaroli has already sealed the Drivers’ Championship and stays on 211 points out in front, while Jak Crawford moves to second on 173 points, three clear of Richard Verschoor in third. Luke Browning is still fourth on 162 points as Alexander Dunne rounds out the top five 150.

Invicta Racing are on 297 points and can win the Teams’ Title on Sunday, but will be challenged by Hitech TGR, on 266 points, and Campos Racing, on 255 points. DAMS Lucas Oil are fourth on 199 points, while MP Motorsport round out the top five on 197.

UP NEXT

Formula 2 will go racing for the final time in 2025, with the Yas Marina Feature Race set to take place at 13:15 local time on Sunday.

Abu Dhabi Sprint Race Results