After his maiden victory last time out in Silverstone, Arden International’s Kevin Ceccon was once again enjoying that winning feeling after taking the chequered flag first in race two in Hungary.
Having made a great start from the first row to take the lead and hold off the advances of ART Grand Prix’s Esteban Ocon, Ceccon took victory by a mere 0.7 seconds; with Koiranen GP’s Jimmy Eriksson completing the podium.
Carlin driver Antonio Fuoco started on reverse pole but was beaten off the start from the fast starting Ceccon. On the attack was also Emil Bernstorff who was looking for a way through the Carlin driver; Fuoco was keen to reclaim his position at the front and as a result the three endured a very heated battle. Unfortunately, contact between Fuoco and Bernstorff between Turns 6 and 7 left the Carlin driver in the barrier and Bernstorff having to retire with damage.
As a result Ocon and Eriksson were potentially in a podium finish respectfully, ahead of championship leader Luca Ghiotto and Matthew Parry; following the safety car period due to the opening lap incident Parry was keen to get past the Trident driver – which he did he did with a brave, bold move and was able to keep the Italian behind him.
Marvin Kirchhöfer was another driver keen to make progress through the field as he claimed sixth place by passing Jenzer Motorsport’s Pal Varhaug. This great racing was clear throughout the field with Mitchell Gilbert passing Adderly Fong, which subsequently lead to a close battle between the Koiranen GP driver and Matheo Tuscher.
Ceccon held a 1.2 second advantage over Ocon at the midway point of the race, with there being two further seconds back to the Swede in third and the entire top five being covered by 3.4 seconds. In the closing stages Ocon did close the gap to the leader but Ceccon responded by posting the fastest lap.
The Frenchman remained on the attack and he posted the fastest lap of the race on the final lap to pocket further points. There was an epic dice for the final points giving position between the Jenzer team-mates with Varhaug claiming seventh place, with Ralph Boschung edging out Tuscher for the final point.
As the chequered flag fell it finished as: Ceccon, Ocon, Eriksson, Parry, Ghiotto, Kirchhöfer, Varhaug and Boschung. Unfortunately for Eriksson, he would be handed a five-second time penalty post race for exceeding track limits, relegating him to sixth and promotes Parry up on to the podium.
Ghiotto retains the championship lead by 23 points from Kirchhöfer, while ART Grand Prix remain on top of the Teams’ Standings on 195 points ahead of Trident on 140 and Arden on 129.
Hungaroring Race 2 Result
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