BROWNING SEALS MAIDEN FORMULA 2 FEATURE RACE WIN AT MONZA
Luke Browning secured his maiden FIA Formula 2 victory at Monza, converting pole into a hard-fought Feature Race triumph for Hitech TGR.
With the whole grid starting on Supersofts, Luke Browning launched brilliantly while Kush Maini bogged down from the front row, slipping back through the pack. Roman Stanek and Oliver Goethe clashed side by side into Turns 1 and 2, with the German emerging ahead in second.
From P7 on the grid, Joshua Duerksen quickly climbed to fourth and immediately pressured Stanek at Turn 4, though the Czech held firm.
Lap 2 saw Maini attempt to recover after his poor getaway, battling Arvid Lindblad at the first chicane. Both ran deep, but it was the DAMS Lucas Oil driver who lost out badly, skimming through the gravel and tumbling to last.
Further back, Leonardo Fornaroli attacked Victor Martins into Ascari. Contact between the two cost Martins part of his front wing endplate. Fornaroli tried again at Turn 4 on the next lap but was forced into the escape road, allowing Jak Crawford through into ninth.
On Lap 4, Goethe activated DRS and breezed past Browning at Turn 1 to seize the lead. The pit window opened on Lap 7, and Goethe pitted immediately, ceding the lead to Browning, who chose to stay out with Stanek in close pursuit.
Moments later, Alexander Dunne attempted a move on Duerksen into Ascari but was rear-ended by Lindblad, sending the Rodin driver into the barriers and bringing out the Safety Car. Lindblad was handed a 10-second penalty.
The caution period triggered a wave of pit stops. Browning rejoined in front of Stanek, while Goethe’s early stop dropped him to eighth, behind Duerksen, Lindblad, Martins, Gabriele Minì and Rafael Villagómez.
At the restart, Browning held first, though Stanek applied pressure. Behind them, Lindblad locked up again and collided with Martins at Turn 1, eliminating both and prompting another Safety Car. Minì also tagged Martins moments earlier, spinning him out of contention.
Green flag running resumed on Lap 14, and Duerksen slipstreamed Browning down the main straight to take the lead. But more chaos followed: Sami Meguetounif spun at Turn 1, causing yet another Safety Car.
When racing resumed on Lap 16, Duerksen kept control. Fornaroli briefly lost fifth to Crawford after running wide but regained it with DRS on Lap 20. Meanwhile, Richard Verschoor fought into the top 10 with bold moves on Sebastián Montoya and teammate Goethe.
Lap 19 saw Browning reclaim the lead with DRS into Turn 1, and from there he managed the race perfectly. Behind him, Martà battled Villagómez and snatched third with a late dive, though a lock-up on the final lap forced him through the escape road, ending his challenge.
Browning crossed the line over three seconds clear of Duerksen to secure his first-ever Formula 2 victory. Martà completed the podium ahead of Villagomez and Fornaroli, who narrowly held off Dino Beganovic by just 0.077s. Minì impressed with a charge from 15th to seventh, while Verschoor, Montoya and John Bennett rounded out the points.
Formula 2 heads to the streets of Baku for Round 12 from September 19–21st.
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