Drugovich wins the Main Race and takes control of the championship

Starting from pole position, Felipe Drugovich mastered his subject during the Main Race to win and recover the keys to the championship.

Published on 27/03/2022 à 16:35

Gonzalo Forbes

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Drugovich wins the Main Race and takes control of the championship

First victory of the season for Felipe Drugovich, winner of the Main Race in Jeddah. ©DPPI/J. Filipe

Almost perfect weekend for Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport) on the Jeddah Corniche. Author of pole position and on the podium of the Sprint Race after the downgrading of Jake Hughes (VAR), the Brazilian took the Main Race this Sunday to end his Saudi trip in style.

Between the concrete walls of the Saudi route, Felipe Drugovich had a relatively quiet final outing. Getting off to a good start when the lights went out, the South American quickly set his pace and gradually gave himself some breathing room on his pursuers including Richard Verschoor (Trident), Marcus Armstrong (Hitech GP) and Liam Lawson ( Pug).

Alone in the lead and safe from any attack, Felipe Drugovich was able to easily negotiate his only stop. Falling back into the middle of the pack while waiting for the pit-stops of the drivers in a staggered strategy, the MP Motorsport driver then made his way to regain control of the Main Race with less than 5 laps from the checkerboard.

First again, the Brazilian only had to secure his end of the race to cross the finish line with almost 3 seconds on Richard Verschoor. Left since 14e position, Jehan Daruvala (Prema) made an incredible comeback to take the last step of the podium.

With this first victory since November 2020 and the Bahrain round, already with MP Motorsport, Felipe Drugovich achieves the perfect operation since he is the new leader of the championship.

Black Sunday for Pourchaire and Lawson

Condemned to the feat by starting from 19th place to try to score a few points, Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix) did not have a great Sunday. In a very complicated weekend where his car caught fire during qualifying before finishing 13th in the Sprint Race, the Habs were unable to reach the finish this time. Victim of technical problems like in Bahrain seven days earlier, the member of the Sauber Academy was forced to retire mid-race.

Leader at the start of this Main Race, Liam Lawson was unable to do anything after a bad pit-stop. In the fight for the podium, the New Zealander received the order to start from his team even though the left front tire was not tight. A situation which forced him to stop at the end of the pit lane, losing big points. A very bad operation for him as well as for Théo Pourchaire. With a burned joker, the two men will no longer be able to afford any further disappointment in order to remain in the race for the title at the end of the season.

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Gonzalo Forbes

In charge of promotion formulas (F2, F3, FRECA, F4...). Carried by the grace of Franco Colapinto.

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