Official F1 Journal F1 Academy Race 2 Round Up- Saudi Arabia

After a great first race of the season for the F1 Academy ladies, we went into Race 2 with Pin on Pole again

Race 2 

Pin covered Pulling off straight away, Lovinfosse tried to make a move on Marti but couldn't get it done, pushing Lovinfosse back into the path of a very fast Chambers who passed into turn 1,  unfortunately doing it off the track and carrying on without giving the place back. Jess Edgar almost went past Lovinfosse as well just 2 corners later and Bustemante went around the outside of Hausmann in a great move almost getting Nobel as well into the last corner, the fight carried on down the start finish straight with Nobel keeping the position. Lots of action on the first lap but all the cars got away clean but that was short lived.  
A safety car was needed on lap 3 after Lovinfosse spun when Chambers hit the back of her car while being overtaken into turn 1,  as Lovinfosse tried to pull away from the spin she hit Lia Block who could not have avoided the stationary car and was spun herself, frustrating for the Williams back driver but both got going again

Lap 5 and we got going again, Minus Hausmann with a technical issue and Lovinfosse with car damage. Pulling was right on the gearbox of Pin as she lead the pack round to the line for the restart. The 2 went into turn 1 side by side, wheel to wheel but Pulling just couldn't get past Pin in the Prema. Amna Al Qubaisi got past Bustemante for 8th as Edgar was right on the back of Marti in 4th, further back Nobel went deep on the brakes, hitting the curb so hard the car was all 4 tyres off the ground.
Lap 6 another Safety car was brought out for the wildcard Muhra of Reema Juffali, that was buried in the wall at exit of turn 5 , during the safety car period Lia Block was given a pitlane speeding penalty, making a tough day worse through very little fault of her own and Chambers also received a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage when she passed Lovinfosse earlier in the race. 

Lap 10 Pin again lead the pack round for the 2nd restart of the day, backing them right up as she went through the last few corners. She went before turn 27 getting a gap to Abbi Pulling and stopping an attack into turn 1. Marti cut the 1st corner and contact at turn 1 with Al Qubaisi, removed Nobels rear wing, leaving her at the bottom of the order with Bustemante also getting a shunt as she went around the outside of the incident.
The Al Qubaisi sisters were having a great fight with Lia Block in the closing laps in a strong recovery drive for Block. 

Lap 12 Pin had a 1.5 second lead on Pulling, Block was in an Al Qubaisi sandwich for 8th place and Marti was just holding off Edgar for 4th. With there being no compulsory Pit stops in F1 Academy all penalties would be added after the race and the 5 cars behind Chambers were on the move to get within the 5 seconds that would be added to her time. The Chequered flag feel with Pin at the top again followed by Pulling. But as the flag fell nobody told Pin and she continued at full racing speed for a further lap and a half till the track was made Red and the team finally told her to come in slowly. Bustemante, both Al Qubaisi sisters and Schreiner all jumped Chambers in the standings after he penalty was applied. ​
As Pin returned to the pits after lapping for longer thsn she should have the FIA announced she was under investigation for taking the Chequered flag twice and could potentially lose her 2nd win of the weekend. 

​Another great race for Pin and the F1 Academy grid. In the first weekend of 2024 they have shown they can race as hard and as well as the male dominated Formula and long may Susie Wolf be the champion of Female motorsport because she is doing all of us proud!

Race 2 Result 

1 Pin 
2 PUL +1.994
3 WEU +5.376
4 MAR +6.834
5 EDG +7.482
6 BUS +12.360
7 AAL +13.864
8 HAL +15.259
9 SCH +17.515
10 CHA 25.073(+5sec)
11 BLO 25.158(+5sec)
12 DEH +26.590(+5sec)
13 HAU +1LAP
14 NOB DNF
​15 JUF DNF
​16 LOV DNF

Joanna Blackmore 
​Writer @f1journal.co.uk