Last weekend the MP F2 team travelled to the northern parts of Italy for the Imola GP. On the iconic race track our drivers set the sixth and ninth fastest times during the Practice Session on Friday, which felt like a good omen for the rest of the weekend. The session wasn’t fully finished when a red flag was called, which meant an abrupt end to practice. Second thing on the calendar.Great emotion for Ayrton Senna 30 th anniversary….
QUALIFYING
During the delayed Qualifying Session, lap times were getting faster and faster. Franco went wide but kept the engine running and got out of the gravel. Multiple lap times were deleted, which meant a P9 for Franco and a P13 for Dennis. Due to the reversed grid for the Sprint Race, Franco started on the front row!
SPRINT RACE
During the first lap, a big crash involved Dennis and four other drivers. Fortunately, all drivers were okay, but Dennis couldn’t continue due to damage. Franco lost a position which made him drop to P3, but after a mistake by the driver in front of him, he capitalized and took his starting position back. His race pace was strong, he came closer and closer to the first position and ultimately managed to overtake in the final lap of the race by an amazing move! This could only mean one thing; a first win for Franco in Formula 2, and additionally the first-ever Argentinian to win a race in the current Formula 2 era.
FEATURE RACE
During the second lap, Dennis’ unfortunate weekend continued. He went wide after a battle lost multiple positions and was set back to P19. He amazingly fought back to a twelfth position and just barely missed out on a point finish. Franco on the other hand constantly continued his great form and finished at P5, and tallied a total of 21 points during the weekend!
Overall a weekend with ups and downs for the MP team, the ups exceeding the lows. There is no time to rest, with the second round of F2 being next week already in Monaco. A race a lot of drivers have been looking forward to of driving.
Standings after the fourth round DriverMP Motosport
P4 Dennis – 41 points
P7 Franco – 34 points
Team Mp Motosport
P4 – 75 points