Report – F2 Round 10 – Spa-Francorchamps
The historic and revered Spa-Francorchamps circuit was the scene for a typically tumultuous weekend of Formula 2 racing, defined by the fickle Ardennes weather, incidents, and consequent Safety Car interventions – as many as three during the Feature Race.
Paul Aron’s weekend got off to a flying start, as did that of team-mate Amaury Cordeel at his home event. They ended the opening hour of practice in P4 and P5 respectively, mastering the tricky conditions – some of the most challenging of the season so far – to set the car up in both race and qualifying trim. The not quite wet, not quite dry conditions of Friday morning would set the tone for most of the weekend.
Things went from good to great for Paul Aron later on Friday, in the crucial Qualifying session for both races. He claimed an important back-to-back Pole Position, improving his time to take provisional pole with three minutes to go. His lap was good for 1:56.959, putting him on top ahead of his title rivals. Amaury’s time would see him line up in 11th place for both races.
Saturday afternoon’s Sprint Race was a short-lived affair. By the time the track was cleared after an early Safety Car for a stricken Campos, the rain had intensified and the race was Red Flagged on Lap 7. Due to less than 50% of the race being run, only the top five scored points. The application of two five-place grid penalties from Budapest had meant that Paul would start this race from the tenth row, so a points finish would have been an uphill climb bar a seismic shift in the race. Crucially, the curtailed race meant that Paul’s main title rival Hadjar also failed to score. Amaury finished P11 per his grid slot.
All hopes rested on Sunday’s 25-lap Feature Race, for which Paul had secured pole. He got a good launch off the line but an immediate yellow flag then Safety Car meant that Hadjar, who had made his way into P2, was able to reel him in. No sooner had the SC peeled in than a further intervention was required for an incident between Martins and Villagomez.
Paul defended for two green flag laps but was struggling on the Soft tyre and on Lap 8 Hadjar was able to overtake him. Recognising that the Estonian would not be able to challenge to retrieve the place, the team chose to bring him in on that same lap to switch to the Medium tyre. It was a decisive call that would put Paul back in the hunt for a podium if not the win he had hoped for, and the boost his title ambitions needed. He went on to record the fastest lap, but this ended up being little consolation when in the most devastating blow his car suddenly lost drive on the Kemmel Straight on the final lap. Heartbreaking for Paul and the team and a full investigation will be undertaken once the car arrives back at HQ to prevent a repeat in the final three rounds.
Paul heads into the summer break third in the driver standings and with a mountain to climb to topple Hadjar, now 41 points ahead after winning the Feature Race. To make matters worse, Bortoleto is now sandwiched between the pair, five points ahead of Paul. This will provide a tough, but not insurmountable challenge in the remaining four rounds. The same for the team, which currently sits fourth in the standings with a 16-point margin to a place in the top three.
As ever, we’ll pick ourselves up and go again at Monza on 30 August – 01 September.
Sprint Race Result – Saturday
Amaury Cordeel – P11
Paul Aron – P18
Feature Race Result – Sunday
Amaury Cordeel – P8 (4 points)
Paul Aron – DNF
