PREMA has tough luck in Imola Feature Race
Coming from a double podium finish in Race 1 yesterday, PREMA Racing experienced a much tougher day at Imola in the Feature Race for the FIA Formula 2 Championship at the Italian venue.
Troubles began at the start, when Dennis Hauger was hit by another car and ended up into the wall right away form the grid. The Norwegian had no chance to rejoin and was left with a DNF.
Jehan Daruvala was the only remaining PREMA driver and got off to a clean start, but strategy came into play against him. A safety car massively favoured the drivers that started on softer tyres and went for an early pit-stop, and race events didn’t provide chances for the late stoppers.
Daruvala stayed out of the pits for as much as possible, hoping for another neutralisation, but the opportunity eventually never came. The Indian ended up as the leading driver of the late-pit strategy and salvaged a few points, but that meant P9 at the end despite the great pace he showed all weekend.
#1 DENNIS HAUGER
“I had a decent launch with a bit of wheelspin, and I just followed Boschung, who was coming through. I thought I let quite a bit of space for Doohan, but he probably got under pressure and turned to the right for some reason. I had no chance to react and I went in the wall, end of story.”
Qualifying: P5
Starting position Race 1: P6
Starting position Race 2: P5
Fastest Lap: 1’40″572
Race 1: P3
Race 2: DNF
#2 JEHAN DARUVALA
“It was an interesting race. We were all on options, and at the last minute, we went for prime. I was confident we could win the race, and we showed that pace, but in the end, we were just unlucky with the situations. First with the safety-car and then with the Virtual Safety Car, as the pit-lane was closed. I think I was definitely the quickest car on track for most of the race. We sco…
Qualifying: P8
Starting position Race 1: P3
Starting position Race 2: P8
Fastest Lap: 1’40″886
Race 1: P2
Race 2: P9
Source | Photo: PREMA Racing