Jack Doohan celebrated his maiden Feature Race Win in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, as he took victory around Spa-Francorchamps. After struggling to get consistent results so far this season, his win in Belgium has catapulted him up into P4 in the standings, gaining five places over the weekend.
Despite taking the very first pole position of the season in Bahrain, the Australian driver has had to wait until Round 11 to taste victory on a Sunday. Speaking to InsideF2 after that win, the Virtuosi Racing driver reflected on his season so far:
“It’s been a long rocky road from my second-ever Qualifying in Abu Dhabi [where] we were on the front row, and then pole in the first round in Bahrain. We’ve always had really strong pace, I’ve had some things to clean up on my side, we had a few mechanical issues and a bit of bad luck, but it is what it is.”
The Alpine Junior driver will be trying to position himself for a move into F1 by 2024, if not as soon as 2023, and the team bosses in Formula 1 will be encouraged by his attitude despite some tricky races:
“I’ve grown into a better and stronger driver and learned so much this season. In the end, it’s great to get the Feature Race win today but we need to keep going.”
Doohan will certainly hope to repeat the form he showed in Belgium as F2 heads to the next two parts of the triple-header. He showed good pace throughout the Feature Race, and got the better of his nearest challenger, Felipe Drugovich.
A superb launch at the race start saw him move up from P4 into second place before he even touched the brake pedal going into Turn 1, and kept up with Drugovich through the first stint.
The pit stops made all the difference for Doohan, as he executed the perfect undercut. Pitting earlier than Felipe, he used his fresh rubber to set a blistering pace, making up time on his rival and emerging from the pit stops in the race lead. He then held the lead all the way to the chequered flag, building a gap and holding off Drugovich while negotiating slower traffic.
The young driver will now look ahead to Round 12 in Zandvoort, where he will try to retain P4 among a highly competitive top 10 in the Championship, and may even have his sights set on overtaking Logan Sargeant to become the highest-placed rookie this year.
