Theo Pourchaire took advantage of a rapid start and a quick pit stop by his team to win the Formula 2 feature race and cut Felipe Drugovich’s championship lead.
The ART driver moved up to second place at the start and then got ahead of Marcus Armstrong in the pits. That put him in the net lead of the race, and once the others had completed their pit stop he was never headed.
Enzo Fittipaldi finished second with pole-winner Ayumu Iwasa third. Drugovich could only manage a ninth place finish for two points, leaving his championship lead looking vulnerable as the series heads into the summer break.
When the lights went out, Iwasa was immediately beaten off the line by fellow front row starter Armstrong, who took the lead on the run down to the first corner. Pourchaire also gained a place over Iwasa to move into second.
As the field navigated the first sector relatively safely, Jack Doohan suddenly slowed and fell to the back of the pack with an apparent problem. Yesterday’s winner circulated for a couple of laps in the hopes of finding a solution to the problem, until he eventually had to pull into the pits to retire.
Iwasa stuck with Pourchaire and tried to pressure him for second, while, further back, Enzo Fittipaldi passed Frederick Vesti around the outside of turn two for fifth place. Iwasa pulled alongside the ART on the outside approaching turn two on lap seven, but Pourchaire successfully fended off the assault.
Eventually the leaders made their pit stop on the ninth lap, with leader Armstrong, Pourchaire and Iwasa all stopping together. ART released Pourchaire fast enough to see him get ahead of Armstrong and take the next lead of the race, with Iwasa also jumping the Hitech driver into second.
Having stayed out for two extra laps on very grained front tyres, Fittipaldi eventually pitted on lap 11 and rejoined the circuit behind Pourchaire and ahead of Iwasa in a net second place. Iwasa fought hard to get ahead of Fittipaldi, but soon had to absorb pressure from Felipe Drugovich behind.
Vesti took over the lead of the race on track, pushing his mediums as long as he could. Eventually, he pitted on lap 26, handing the lead to Liam Lawson who was still yet to stop. Three laps later, Lawson finally boxed, allowing Pourchaire to inherit the lead of the race for the first time with Fittipaldi and Iwasa behind.
The clouds over the Hungaroring started to sprinkle light drops of rain on the circuit, but not enough to cause serious difficulties for drivers. On…
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