Doriane Pin goes from pole to victory in F1 Academy race 2 at Zandvoort

Doriane Pin (pictured) went from pole to victory in race 2 at Zandvoort. Credit: James Sutton via Getty Images

For the second time in her career, Doriane Pin has claimed victory in F1 Academy, after a commanding victory on Sunday morning at Zandvoort.

Pin, backed by Mercedes, went from pole to victory at Zandvoort, after she took a comfortable victory in race 2 as she won by over two seconds at the chequered flag to her Prema teammate Maya Weug and it would be a Prema 1-2. A great result for the team.

The two Prema drivers would be joined on the podium by Alpine Academy's Abbi Pulling, of Rodin Motorsport, who won race 1 earlier in the day. After a penalty for Nina Gademan for causing a collision, Hamda Al Qubaisi in fourth and Aurelia Nobels completed the top five.

Pulling, who leads the championship coming into the round, started second but would drop to third after not the best of starts. She extended her championship lead after she went from pole to victory also. Race 1 was rescheduled for Sunday morning after severe weather conditions saw it postponed on Saturday.

Pulling came into the round with a 66-point lead coming into round 4 at Zandvoort.

How F1 Academy race 2 at Zandvoort unfolded

For the second time on Sunday morning, on the day of the Dutch Grand Prix, it was time to go racing in the 2024 F1 Academy Championship, at Zandvoort for round four. There had already been one race on Sunday morning, which was the re-scheduled race 1 from Saturday after severe weather saw the race postponed.

The day's earlier race saw Abbi Pulling take her fifth win of the season, as she converted her fifth pole position of the season to race victory in comfortable fashion. Nerea Marti of Campos finished second and Maya Weug of Prema finished third, behind Rodin Motorsport's Pulling after a time penalty for Prema's Doriane Pin for a false start.

In terms of race 2, it would be the Mercedes backed Doriane Pin to start from pole position after her second best lap time was better than the other 15 drivers in comparison and therefoe, for the first time since the opening round in Jeddah, she would start from the very front.

Pin would have Pulling alongside, and would need to beat championship leader Pulling to try and close the gap, as the points gap between the pair had extended from 66, which was the gap at the start of the weekend.

It was though time to go racing for race 2, after the formation lap with Dorian Pin on pole position and Abbi Pulling alongisde at Zandvoort. There would be the ful 17 laps for race 2 that was shortned to 13 for race 1, due to the busy Sunday schedule on Grand Prix Sunday

The lights would go out and Pin would do what she needed to do and got a good start, she maintained the lead into the first corner, while a bad start from Abbi Pulling would see her drop to third behind home hero Maya Weug who got a great start into second.

Lia Block and Jessica Edgar stalled initially at the race start but were able to get going again thankfully, but there races had been almost completely destroyed and had an awful lot of work to do.

Nerea Marti had been shovelled out after starting in the top five once again at Zandvoort after she ran out of road, going wheel-to-wheel with Aurelia Nobels and would drop down to ninth place.

Not much overtaking would be happening in the early stages as out front Pin was extending her gap from Weug, who was doing a good job of keeping Pulling behind.

Further back, a battle was developing between Aurelia Nobels, Nina Gademan and Hamda Al Qubaisi for fourth position, as they were forming a train. This would take laps and laps of hard work but eventually Gademan, the wildcard driver, would go for a move into turn 11.

Gademan would send an ambitious move down the inside and would be alongside but after clipping the inside curb she would go into the inside of Nobels forcing her into the gravel. Gademan would take the place and would speed off into the distance and losing her a couple of positions.

Hamda Al Qubaisi would also get ahead of Nobels. Gademan would receive a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision, which would be added to her race time at the end of the race.

Nobels would be dropping back from fourth and fifth and would be unable to stay with them as further up the road, Pulling was trying to find a way ahead of the Ferrari back Prema driver Maya Weug, who was in search for a double podium on home soil.

Pulling was being urged to find a way through by her engineer but she was just struggling to find a way through on a circuit that is notoriously difficult to overtake.

However, Emely De Heus in the Red Bull Ford liveried car would manage to be able to make a pass. She took 13th with a super and clean move down the inside on her MP Motorsport teammate and Visa RB backed Amna Al Qubaisi. It was a move from De Heus that would delight her home crowd at Zandvoort.

Onto the final lap and Weug was doing all she could to hold off Pulling who was just struggling and was finding it difficult to pass on this circuit with limited opportunity. 

Out front though, it was brilliantly managed by Doriane Pin and for the second time in her first season of F1 Academy she was set to become a race winner once again. Out of the final banked corner and to the line, Doriane Pin took victory at Zandvoort in race 2.

Pin won by almost two full seconds ahead of her Prema teammate Maya Weug, backed by Ferrari. A great result for Prema to have a 1-2 finish, with the Mercedes backed Pin taking the victory ahead of Weug. Abbi Pulling completed the podium score in third place. 

Not the win that Pulling may have wanted but a third place finish is still a good result and minimises compared to PIn earlier, the gap gained by the fellow driver in the standings. 

Nina Gademan's 10-second time penalty would drop her to 10th, after she originally crossed the line in fourth. A double points score should be celebrated for the wildcard driver on her first F1 Academy weekend in her career. She would surely be welcomed back to race again for a full season in 2025.

Hamda Al Qubaisi would inherit fourth and Aurelia Nobels would take fifth place back ahead of Carrie Schreiner in sixth position. Lola Lovinfosse finished seventh for Rodin Motorsport, backed by Charlotte Tilbury. She finished ahead of Nerea Marti, who would have to settle for eighth. Tina Hausmann in ninth and Gademan would complete the points scoring positions.

After such a fantastic weekend of action with two different winners it will be almost a month until F1 Academy is next back in action, when the championship supports Formula 1 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, taking place on September 20-22.

2024 F1 Academy Championship: Round 4 - Netherlands race 2 provisional result

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

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal