An opportunistic Pourchaire returns to success at Imola

The misfortune of one person makes the happiness of others. In Imola this Sunday, Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix) took advantage of the numerous incidents in front of him to sign his 2^e success leaving behind the zero points in Jeddah where nothing had happened as planned.

Author of a good start since 7^e place unlike his last outings and in particular that of the Sprint Race this Saturday, Théo Pourchaire was immediately in the game. Remounted 5^e from the first round, the Habs put themselves in a good position to fight for a podium, looking for confidence. It was ultimately the victory that the native of Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes) was going to contest on the Italian track.

With a very good save at 8^e lap under Safety Car after the exit of the track of poleman Jüri Vips (Hitech GP), Théo Pourchaire provisionally passed 2^e behind Roy Nissany (DAMS) while waiting for the drivers' pit stops on a shifted strategy. Enough to predict a lively end to the race with the Israeli to hope to sign a 2^e success this season. This one will finally come on its own since its counterpart made a mistake at the end of the 20^e lap after a very wide exit from the last corner.

A godsend for the Frenchman who didn't ask for so much. Well helped by the race management's decision not to bring in the safety car, avoiding a regrouping of the peloton and the drivers on new tires behind him, Théo Pourchaire took the lead for the first time at 34^e passage when Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport) and Marino Sato (Virtuosi) made their obligatory stop.

It was behind the Safety Car, which intervened after the accident of Liam Lawson (Carlin), that Théo Pourchaire would take the checkerboard to return to victory a month after the nightmare of Jeddah in front of Enzo Fittipaldi (Charouz), author of a nice comeback from 15th place, and Ralph Boschung (Campos).

Thanks to this 2nd victory of the season, the 4th of his career in F2, the ART Grand Prix driver also achieves a perfect operation since he regains the lead of the championship by 2 small points ahead of Felipe Drugovich, 10^e at the arrival. Also note the fine 4th place of the other Frenchman, Clément Novalak (MP Motorsport) who started from 13th place on the grid. These are his first points of the season.

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