Championship leader Abbi Pulling completes the double on Friday as she tops second practice at Zandvoort

On Friday evening, Abbi Pulling managed to top her second practice session of Friday, as at Zandvoort she topped the second and final practice session of the F1 Academy weekend in the Netherlands.

Pulling showed her speed once again and the Alpine Academy talent, driving for Rodin Motorsport, would end the second session top, just like she did in the day's earlier morning session. 

The British talent would leave it late, as she finished fastest ahead of Prema's Ferrari backed talent Maya Weug, who was second at her home event and just over one tenth shy of the championship leader's time (1:36.367).

MP Motorsport's Red Bull Racing backed driver, Hamda Al Qubaisi was third at the chequered flag. Jessica Edgar would join her Rodin Motorsport teammate Abbi Pulling in the top five, as she finished fourth. Nerea Marti for Campos in fifth made it four out of the five constructors in the top five.

It would be an important 40-minute session with the 16 drivers, including Wildcard entry Nina Gademan, as they would get to grips with their car on the Zandvoirt circuit that was proving challenges for some of the drivers in the first practice session.

After the wet and windy conditions ruined the spirits of free practice 1, the drivers would head out for free practice 2 with a dry track but the wind would still be there as even some of the Formula 1 drivers struggled with in their free practice , prior to the session.

The first half of the session saw the timing sheets changing a lot, as the drivers would be finding more confidence and grip around the tricky and challenging Zandvoort layout.

Doriane Pin, Maya Weug and Hamda Al Qubaisi all took turns going fastest before Abbi Pulling, the championship leader would go to the top of the times with a 1:37.546 - 0.045s clear of the rest.

The wind was proving a challenge for the drivers and caught out Bianca Bustamante at the halfway point, as the McLaren backed junior found the gravel with her ART Grand Prix car. After suffering with oversteer, she spun at turn 8, heading into the gravel. She would find herself beached and unable to continue and this would therefore subsequently bring out the red flag.

The delay would not be of too long and once the drivers headed back out they were keen to continue on improving their lap times and get some more running done ahead of qualifying to come on Saturday morning.

Pulling would initially improve her time before Chloe Chambers and Nerea Marti, the two Campos drivers, took turns in moving to the top spot and beating Abbi Pulling's benchmark lap time of 1:37.405. Marti's time that had her in first place was a 1:37.048, but even that would be short lived at the top as the track began to ramp up.

Jessica Edgar, Doriane Pin, Marti and Maya Weug would all take turns going top as the track ramped up with Weug extending her gap eventually by three tenths, with a 1:36.470.

With the session nearing a close, Pulling took top spot away from Maya Weug with a stunning lap time of 1:36.366, which would be over a tenth clear on her second time in the closing stages, that would have been good enough for top spot.

Pulling's exceptional pace in the 2024 F1 Academy Championship looks an incredible strength and has great consistency to it, as it seems. The championship leader, with a 66-point lead over Doriane Pin and Chloe Chambers, who are second and third, she looks tough to beat for the title.

Action will continue into Saturday morning with the qualifying session, with each driver's best two times determining the grid for the two races on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. 

2024 F1 Academy Championship: Round 4 - Netherlands free practice 2 result

1. Abbi Pulling (Great Britain, Rodin Motorsport)
2. Maya Weug (Netherlands, Prema Racing)
3. Hamda Al Qubaisi (United Arab Emirates, MP Motorsport)
4. Jessica Edgar (Great Britain, Rodin Motorsport)
5. Nerea Marti (Spain, Campos Racing)
6. Doriane Pin (France, Prema Racing)
7. Emely De Heus (Netherlands, MP Motorsport)
8. Tina Hausmann (Switzerland, Prema Racing)
9. Amna Al Qubaisi (United Arab Emirates, MP Motorsport)
10. Aurelia Nobels (Brazil, ART Grand Prix)
11. Lola Lovinfosse (France, Rodin Motorsport)
12. Chloe Chambers (United States, Campos Racing)
13. Nina Gademen (Netherlands, Prema Racing) *WILDCARD ENTRY*
14. Lia Block (United States, ART Grand Prix)
15. Carrie Schreiner (Germany, Campos Racing)
16. Bianca Bustamante (Philippines, ART Grand Prix)

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal