RACE 2: Pin bounces back as she storms to faultless victory in Zandvoort

Doriane Pin returned to winning ways by claiming a dominant victory in a thrilling Race 2 in Zandvoort, with the Mercedes driver unchallenged as she sailed into the distance from pole position.

Maya Weug took her second podium of the weekend as the PREMA Racing car finished in P2, while Abbi Pulling claimed third place despite fighting hard for second throughout the 17-lap race.

After receiving a five-second penalty for a false start in Race 1, Pin made an excellent launch from pole for Race 2 and cleanly held the lead. Also making a good getaway was Weug, the Ferrari driver sweeping ahead of Pulling to slot into P2 at the first corner.

Pulling was not deterred by losing a position, as Weug soon had the Alpine in her mirrors into Lap 2. Behind Pulling, Aurelia Nobels was facing pressure from the Wild Card entry of Nina Gademan, continuing her impressive debut weekend in F1 ACADEMY.

Elsewhere, Nerea Martí had dropped backwards after a wide moment for the Tommy Hilfiger driver on the opening lap following contact with the PUMA of Nobels, while the stewards had noted an incident between Emely De Heus and Bianca Bustamante.

Hamda Al Qubaisi – a two-time winner at Zandvoort in 2023 – looked keen to make ground as she tried to find a way past the Female Quotient car of Gademan. A thrilling battle ensued on the main straight as Al Qubaisi attempted an overtake, but Gademan managed to defend well from the Red Bull Racing car and maintain fourth place.

By Lap 6, Pulling had closed the gap to Weug in the fight for P2 to within half a second – with Pin still holding an assured lead – while the trio at the front had broken away from Nobels in P4. The ART Grand Prix driver was continuing to drive a good race, keeping a train of cars at bay behind her.

As the race reached its halfway point, Gademan was just 0.3s behind Nobels, while Al Qubaisi remained in the hunt in sixth place, followed by Kick Sauber’s Carrie Schreiner. On Lap 9 Gademan found a way down the inside of Nobels, with the latter slipping back to P6 after briefly running through the gravel.

Schreiner, meanwhile, was facing a challenge for P7 from Lola Lovinfosse – with Martí and Tina Hausmann not far behind to complete the top-10 – while Pulling looked to be pushing hard as she kept within touching distance of Weug.

The stewards soon confirmed that Gademan had been handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Nobels, with the Wild Card driver running in fourth by Lap 12. Elsewhere, Amna Al Qubaisi had moved up to P13 from a back-row start and was looking to battle Haas’s Chloe Chambers ahead.

Al Qubaisi then lost a position to the fellow MP Motorsport car of De Heus, who braked late and subsequently was able to move up the inside at Turn 1 to take 13th place. Up ahead, Weug was continuing to resist pressure from Race 1 winner Pulling in the duel for second place as the race entered its final laps.

Further up the road, Pin crossed the line to seal a flawless lights-to-flag victory – her second win of the season – while Weug added to a successful weekend in front of her home fans by taking another podium in second place, and Pulling completed the rostrum in third.

Gademan’s penalty promoted Hamda Al Qubaisi to fourth, with Nobels taking fifth place and Schreiner just behind in sixth. Lovinfosse, Martí and Hausmann all clinched points in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively, while Gademan rounded out the top-10.

WHAT’S NEXT?

With four thrilling rounds of the 2024 F1 ACADEMY season now complete, the battle to become the Champion will continue with Round 5 in Singapore from September 20-22.