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Formula Sprint 2
Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka International Racing Course
Tuesday 2nd of April 2024 19:00:00
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March 25, 2020

 

Crossfire continue strong form whilst de Vries takes first win of the Supercup season
Sven de Vries had to overtake Alessandro Quintaie twice on the way to an impressive victory in the Bahrain Supercup Feature Race.

Melbourne Sprint Race winner Frank Hamming rounded out the podium after a battling final stint.

Quntaie had qualified fastest, but the quick-starting Satellite of de Vries had the advantage into Turn One. There was major contact as the field funnelled into Turn Two which affected six competitors.

The nature of the Bahraini venue meant that there was never a wide spread in the field. Ivan Leonov had jumped up to fourth whilst Leon Bock had also advanced nicely along with Tom Van der Voort.

Up front Quintaie was pushing hard. The Pescara driver was all over the back of leader de Vries. The pole-sitter attempted a move, but the move was recoiled with some contact for good measure.

One lap later and Quintaie - along with a host of other top ten drivers - made his mandatory pit-stop. De Vries went a lap longer and paid the price, losing out to Pescara`s undercut.

The other Satellite of Leonov had pulled an undercut however, and had moved to third ahead of Hamming. The H20 Namaco was pushing to move back into the podium position, but a mistake at Turn Four postponed advances for the time being.

Back at the front and de Vries had latched onto the back of Quintaie heading up to Turn Four. The race winning move was made down the inside, late on the brakes.

Leonov was holding on for dear life behind with Hamming looking to make up for his mistake. He tried outside at Turn Four, which turned into the inside of Five and the outside of Six before the a chop at Turn Seven finally sealed third place.

Oppecini was next to encounter Leonov. On Lap 21 the sister Pescara pulled out of the slipstream down the start/finish straight and went for the move. Leonov pushed Oppecini to the limits of defensive driving but to no avail. It still wasnt over for Leonov though.

Bock wanted in on the action and tried to emulate Hamming`s move from earlier. There was contact at Turn Four and Five, but the move was completed at Seven.

Back up front, Sven de Vries managed to hold on and take the Feature victory ahead of Quintaie and Hamming.

Matteo Keersmaekers was drawn to Pole for the Sprint Race, alongside Crossfire teammate David Jundt.

At Turn one the front row got through safely whilst behind Oppecini hit strife and dropped down the field, whilst another incident hindered multiple cars.

By Lap Five, Jannis Wollborn had made a remarkable amount of ground. A move on Mateusz Dabrowski promoted the Razor to eleventh after starting from the tail-end.

A lap later the lead would change. Jundt making the popular pass of the day, using the drag to Turn Four as the catalyst for his victory.

Race One winner de Vries was looking to take fifth from teammate Leonov. Contact at Turn Seven would not have gone down well although both seemed to escape unscathed.

Leonov`s day would come to a sudden halt. A spin at the second-to-last corner sent him spearing into the barriers and out of contention.

Bock had moved past Keersmaekers for second, but Crossfire were still looking good for a double-podium. However, a spin on Lap 12 dampened the spirits on a positive race, before Matteo would eventually retire four laps later.

Quintaie was promoted into the final podium position, it the decision to race on softs looked to be a costly one. As de Vries moved past, Quintaie dropped it exiting T2 and dropped to sixth.

There was still time for more drama, as Wollborn attacked Quintaie. They tangled at Turn Five, allowing Dabrowski, Kacper Michalak and Damian Kardasz through.

David Jundt though took a deserved victory, just ahead of Leon Bock who drove superbly. Sven de Vries took third head of Frank Hamming. Lorenzo De Ciutiis drove brilliantly to come home in fifth.