Monras Scores Dominant Maiden Win In Race 2

Miki Monras took a dominant victory in Race 2 of the opening weekend of the FIA Formula Two Championship at Silverstone, completing a strong debut weekend for the Spaniard.

Monras led away from pole position, while Race 1 winner Mirko Bortolotti bogged down from P2 and lost a place to Will Bratt.

Alex Brundle failed to get away at the start due to clutch issues. Later on the opening lap, Ramon Pineiro attacked Bortolotti for third at Stowe but spun, dropping the Spaniard down the order. Up front, Monras built up a cushion over Bratt and Bortolotti.

Bratt was later handed a drive-through penalty for not respecting the track limits, which became a black flag after he failed to come in and serve the penalty. The Briton would finish the race in second on the road, but was disqualified from the results. This gave second position to Bortolotti, with rookie Christopher Zanella completing the podium.

“First of all, I knew I had to make a good start if I wanted to win the race,” said Monras. “Yesterday it was not the case and I struggled a little bit; today it was better, a lot easier. I saw they were fighting a little bit behind on the first lap so I managed to pull a little gap, and after that I pushed and pushed. I knew it was important to get some good laps early on and build a gap until the end and that’s what I did. We knew we were going to fight for the win at least – testing showed us we were there, and a podium would have been okay but a win is even better.”

Tobias Hegewald finished in fourth, ahead of Mihai Marinescu, Jack Clarke, Armaan Ebrahim and Kelvin Snoeks. Rookie Mikkel Mac and Frenchman Benjamin Lariche rounded out the top ten.

Bortolotti's win and second place put him on top of the standings after Round 1, with Monras a close second just three points behind. Marinescu is a distant third, 18 points further back.

The second round of the season takes place at Magny-Cours in France on 13-15 May.

Final results after 21 laps: