The Hitech driver did fantastically well to move from third to first as he came over the line ahead of David Beckmann in second and Jehan Daruvala in third.
Pole sitter Bent Viscaal finished fourth ahead of race one winner Robert Shwartzman who came fifth. Dan Ticktum, Liam Lawson, Oscar Piastri and Theo Pourchaire all had fantastic recoveries as they finished sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth respectively with Felipe Drugovich rounding off the top 10.
Matteo Nannini finished outside the top 10 in 11th ahead of Jack Aitken in 12th, Marino Sato in 13th, Guilherme Samaia in 14th, Alessio Deledda in 15th and Roy Nissany in 16th who was the final race finisher as we saw six drivers retire from the race.
Starting Grid
After finishing 10th in the first Sprint Race, Bent Viscaal starts from first alongside fellow rookie David Beckmann with the German starting from P2.
Juri Vips started from third ahead of Marcus Armstrong in fourth, Ralph Boschung in fifth, Theo Pourchaire in sixth, Jehan Daruvala in seventh, Guanyu Zhou in eighth, Dan Ticktum in ninth and race winner from the first Sprint Race, Robert Shwartzman, starts from 10th on the grid.
Christian Lundgaard narrowly missed out on reverse grid pole as the Danish driver starts from 11th ahead of the two MP Motorsport’s of Richard Verschoor and Lirim Zendeli in 12th and 13th.
Felipe Drugovich dropped down to 14th after his 10-second penalty with the Brazilian ahead of Matteo Nannini in 15th, Roy Nissany in 16th, Guilherme Samaia in 17th and Marino Sato in 18th.
The four retirees from the first Sprint Race, Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson, Jack Aitken and Alessio Deledda started from the back of the field in 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd respectively.
As It Happened
Viscaal was able to keep the lead as the drivers went into turn one. Zhou and Ticktum both span around at the start as the latter was able to continue with the former retiring from the race.
At the front of the field, Beckmann was able to take the lead of the race as the German swooped around the outside of turn three and then made the move stick into turn four.
Moments later, the Safety Car was deployed as Boschung, Zhou and Zendeli all retired from the race due to their retrospective incidents on the first lap.
As the drivers returned to green light racing once more, Daruvala made a move that moved him up to third ahead of Vips. The Estonian was having none of it as a matter of seconds later he retook the position and remained in the podium places.
Pourchaire was forced to pit after the Safety Car period ended as he sustained front wing damage which dropped the Frenchman to the back of the field.
The Hitech of Vips was on the charge for the lead as he easily made his way past Viscaal for second place down the start/finish straight.
Another Safety Car was released as Nissany and Verschoor tangled with each other. The former punted the latter as the Dutchman retired from the race.
After the restart, Viscaal tried to move up to second but his poor decision making saw him drop down to fifth. The MP Motorsport driver’s battles did not end there as he looked to move up to fourth. He was able to gain the position at the expense of Armstrong who crashed into the barrier and retired from the race.
Lundgaard became the sixth retiree from the race as he went straight on at turn one which saw the Virtual Safety Car released.
Vips took the lead of the race on lap 10 as DRS helped the Hitech driver to get past Beckmann and up into first place.
At the halfway point, Vips lead the race ahead of Beckmann, Daruvala, Viscaal, Shwartzman, Lawson, Ticktum, Drugovich, Piastri and Nannini who rounded off the top 10.
Nissany was handed a drive-through penalty after his collision with Verschoor, but that didn’t really implement the Israeli’s position as he was running at the back of the field.
A man of the charge was Oscar Piastri. Having started the race from 19th, the Australian made his way up to eighth place and into the points.
Lawson dropped down from sixth to eighth as the New Zealander encountered a problem that allowed Ticktum and Piastri to move ahead of the Hitech driver.
The two rookies then battled with each other as Lawson came out on top and regained one position that he lost moving up to seventh.
A late charge from Pourchaire saw him move up to ninth as the Frenchman proved the good overtaking opportunities available around the track, but Vips was able to get over the line in first ahead of Beckmann i second and Daruvala in third.
What’s Next?
Liam Lawson will start from pole position for Sunday’s Feature Race as the New Zealander will be joined by teammate Juri Vips on the front row of the grid.
The third race has the most points on offer and a win for the Hitech driver will be key if he is to put pressure on Zhou at the top of the Championship.
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