F2: Fornaroli overcomes late safety car interruption to secure commanding victory in Spa F2 Sprint

On the back of his Formula E rookie test at Berlin, Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli took his second consecutive Sprint Race victory with his triumph in Belgium.

ornaroli started from P3 on the grid, but he made an eye-catching start to move himself into the lead at Turn 1.

From there on, the Italian had to fight off the challenge of local hero Amaury Cordeel in the opening stages of the race. However, the Belgian driver was unable to keep up with Fornaroli, and was challenged by Victor Martins from behind.

In the closing stages of the race, the Frenchman managed to close in on Cordeel, but the pair made contact which sent Cordeel into the gravel trap at Turn 5.

The incident required a safety car, and most of the drivers from the mid-field elected to pit for a set of fresh soft tyres.

Fornaroli, Martins and Gabriele Mini stayed out on their used mediums, but somehow they managed to maintain their position to finish on the rostrum.

Red Bull junior driver Oliver Goethe started from pole position, but struggled to manage his tyres, but he still wound up in fourth for MP Motorsport.

Red Bull Junior Josep María Martí was the first driver among those who pitted for fresh tyres during the safety car incident, but he had to settle for fifth.

Roman Stanek took sixth, ahead of McLaren junior racer Alexander Dunne, whilst ART’s Ritomo Miyata took the final point in P8.

Reflecting on his victory, Fornaroli said: “Another win, super happy about this one. We got a good start and took the lead into T1. It was very quiet for me at the front, but it was very difficult, firstly to defend from Cordeel and then to manage the restart with Victor.

"So very about the pace, we were very strong, so super happy to take another win and now looking forward to tomorrow," the Italian concluded.

Richard Verschoor continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship on 122 points, six clear of Jak Crawford in second. Leonardo Fornaroli is now up to third on 114 points, with Alexander Dunne fourth on 110, and Luke Browning fifth on 98.

In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing continue to lead the way with 158 points, ahead of Invicta Racing up to second on 146, and DAMS Lucas Oil in third with 142. Hitech TGR are fourth on 141 points, with MP Motorsport rounding out the top five on 139.