| Report – F2 Round 14 – Abu Dhabi |
Today’s Feature Race at Yas Marina Circuit saw Amaury Cordeel translate a fifth row start into an eighth-place finish, as the curtain dropped on a sensational season of FIA Formula 2. Paul Aron drove with customary determination to recover from a pit lane start and gained 10 places to finish 11th.
Heading into the season finale this weekend, Paul was still in with a shot at the Drivers’ Championship, but it was an outside shot that would have required a dramatic twist of fate between the top two protagonists. Formula 2 has shown many times that anything can happen, and often does, but though the fight for ultimate honours went down to the wire today, P3 in Saturday’s Sprint had already put the Estonian out of contention; however, his result was deleted due to a technical infringement.
On the other side of the garage, Amaury Cordeel enjoyed a strong weekend, qualifying in P10 to his team-mate’s P3. The Belgian would line up on Pole for Saturday’s Sprint Race and while he dropped to third on the opening lap, he did an excellent job to hold on at the sharp end of the race and stay in touch with the leaders.
Amaury had been over two seconds clear of Paul but a lock-up on Lap 16 sent him wide at Turn 12, bringing his teammate right back into contention and he made the move for P3 at Turn 10, holding on for a Podium at the race’s conclusion.
Having lost position, Amaury did well to close the door on an advancing Duerksen and remained line astern with Paul in a bid to secure a double points finish. Unfortunately, while trying to hold onto fourth, Amaury and Duerksen had a coming together. Both recovered, but the Hitech driver had hurt his tyres and began to drop down the order. It was determined that he had been at fault and a 10-second time penalty left him in 13th place in the classification at the end of a race that had held so much promise.
Amaury’s clear progression in recent races was rewarded in the Feature Race on Sunday, when his P8 finish earned him four more points and he scored for a seventh time this season, a tally that has played a significant contribution to Hitech’s recovery from sixth in the Teams’ Standings to fourth.
The team executed a perfect Feature Race strategy, designed to take advantage of what was likely to be a dramatic fight to the finish. Amaury pitted on lap 26 and Paul two laps later, both switching from the Medium to the Supersoft to gain late placings on fresh rubber.
At the end of an enthralling season, in which the team were in the hunt for both titles at various stages from Sakhir to Yas Marina, Hitech extends a heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in our 2024 challenge, both trackside and at our Silverstone HQ.
We also congratulate the Drivers’ Champion, Gabriel Bortoleto, and his team, Invicta Racing, on an outstanding campaign.
The final Championship Standings are:
Drivers’ Championship
Paul Aron – 3rd – 163 points
Amaury Cordeel – 17th – 39 points
Teams’ Championship
Hitech Pulse-Eight – 4th – 202 points
Round 14 Results
Sprint Race Result – Saturday
Amaury Cordeel – P13
Paul Aron – DSQ
Feature Race Result – Sunday
Amaury Cordeel – P8 (4 points)
Paul Aron – P11
