Hamda Al Qubaisi makes it two wins in a weekend to close gap on Marta García

Hamda Al Qubaisi and MP Motorsport’s excellent weekend continued as she secured her second victory in two days, ahead of teammate and home favourite Emely de Heus and Swiss driver Léna Bühler.

In a race filled with action, polesitter H. Al Qubaisi was electric as the lights went out to distance herself from Buhler on the opening lap. At the back of the field however, a collision between Rodin Carlin’s Megan Gilkes and Campos Racing’s Lola Lovinfosse left the Canadian driver with damage and forced an early retirement.

Fellow Rodin Carlin driver Abbi Pulling also fell down the field early on and was forced to work her way back through the pack, overtaking Chloe Chong down the inside of Turn 1 on Lap 2.

With Al Qubaisi extending her lead on Lap 4 after setting the fastest lap of the race, the action was again with Pulling as she was battling Race 2 winner Carrie Schreiner. The ART Grand Prix driver had shown excellent defensive skills on her way to her inaugural win and was at it again, holding off every move from the #10 car of Pulling.

Meanwhile Lovinfosse had now slotted in behind Pulling and looked for an overtake down the inside, which the Brit was quick to cover off. The pair made contact just a few corners later with both drivers spinning off the track and into the gravel, bringing an early end to both of their races.

The Safety Car was called in at the start of Lap 12 to get the action back underway. While Al Qubaisi executed a perfect restart, it was time for home favourite de Heus to take centre stage with an excellent move on Bühler down the inside of Turn 1 to move into second.

There was still time for more action however as Jessica Edgar, the last Rodin Carlin car out on track, suffered an issue that saw her tumble down the field and out of the pints having been battling for P4. The P4 finish would have led to Edgar’s best weekend result of the season so far but she sadly finished outside of the points.

For Al Qubaisi however it will be a weekend to remember as she takes home two maximum points wins to cut the lead at the top of the Drivers’ Standings to just 5 points. MP Motorsport will be delighted to have achieved another podium with de Heus while Bühler made it three podiums out of three this weekend with a P3 finish.

Rounding out the top 10 was Campos Racing’s Maite Cáceres who collected her first point of the season after multiple battles with PREMA’s Chloe Chong.

Race Winner’s Quote – Hamda Al Qubaisi

“It feels good to finally show my potential. It has been a difficult start because of my injury and it’s still going on but I’m real to be able to push through it and still get results.

“It’s just the beginning we still have a long season and I’m looking forward to keeping this momentum.”

As It Stands

Al Qubaisi’s win moves her within five pints of García at the top of the Driver’s Standings with Buhler cementing her position in P3.

MP Motorsport continued their excellent form as they became the first team to reach 300 points this season and give themselves a 66 point lead over PREMA Racing.

What’s Next

The teams travel to Italy to take part on the iconic Monza track next time out on July 7th to 9th.