Oli Bearman won the Formula 2 Feature race at Monza in an encounter that had significant repercussions for the championship.
Bearman survived multiple Safety Car periods to win from Ayumu Iwasa, with points leader Theo Pourchaire rounding out the podium.
Pourchaire’s title rival, Frederik Vesti, was an early retirement, a result that doesn’t yet confirm Frenchman as champion but goes a long way towards it.
Pourchaire started from pole and headed the field off the line, Bearman tucking into his slipstream before pulling out on approach to the first chicane.
He couldn’t make the move there, but a better run around the Curva Grande saw the Prema driver seize the lead.
His team-mate, Frederik Vesti, spun exiting the left-right complex after being forced onto the grass, tagging the barrier with the car’s rear.
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Vesti was engaged with Roman Stanek, while further up the road Clement Novalak was buried in the gravel at Lesmo 2 to draw the Safety Car.
Stanek had been wrongfooted by Martins at the Roggia complex, with Vesti getting a run on exit only to be forced off the road by some over-eager defence.
It was an important clash in the context of the title, with Vesti second in the championship battle to Pourchaire with just two races remaining.
Vesti was distraught, climbing from the car before sitting disconsolately, head in hands, on the inside of the first Lesmo.
Bearman took the restart at the start of Lap 4, accelerating away on approach to the Parabolica to have a valuable break to Pourchaire and Martins.
A mistake for Arthur Leclerc on Lap 7 saw him spin into the escape road at the first chicane, skittling the polystyrene boards as the Ferrari Academy driver lost the engine.
It prompted a return of the Safety Car for the second time, triggering those on the supersoft tyres to take their early stop.
That included both ART drivers, Pourchaire ahead of Martins. However, they orchestrated it well so neither lost time – Martins having arguably slowed somewhat ahead of entering the lane to open the gap to his team-mate and minimise the impact on his race.
On exit, Bearman and Pourchaire were close enough that it prompted officials to note what was a near miss.
The pair rejoined fifth and sixth behind new leader Jehan Daruvala, Jack Doohan, Ayumu Iwasa, and Isack Hadjar, who’d opted for the ‘alternate’ strategy, meaning they’d have to stop later in the race.
Racing resumed at the start of Lap 12, Doohan shaping up to pass Daruvala at the first chicane, getting the move made while in the pack there was a crash on the front straight that would ultimately require the Safety Car.
However, that was not immediately deployed as racing out front resumed, Iwasa finding his way to the front as Doohan was shuffled back to fourth.
Zane Maloney was the driver who’d crashed out on the front straight, limping his way clear of his car.
He was tagged from behind as they raced down the front straight, with Roy Nissany the driver to have nerfed him around.
Racing resumed once more with 15 minutes to go, Bearman sprinting clear of Doohan in second – Daruvala having stopped under the Safety Car.
The Australian had no answer to the race leader, who had fresher tyres and was soon looking in his mirrors as Pourchaire in third shaped up for a move.
That came around the outside of Curva Grande, Doohan cutting the chicane at Variante Roggia to maintain the place.
Their order reversed under braking for the first chicane at the start of the next lap.
A DRS failure for Martins saw the rear wing gap stuck open, a point reported by Maini.
The Frenchman was shown the black and orange flag, forcing him to box to have the fault remedied, effectively ending his race.
Another Safety Car was called on Lap 23 when Maini lost his front wing and ploughed into the gravel.
It was a lucky escape as the wing was trapped under the front of the car as he became a passenger and headed into the gravel at the second Lesmo.
Maini had a run on Crawford at Curva Grande, the pair making contact which dislodged Maini’s wing in an incident that was fortunate not to be more significant.
Crawford picked up a left-rear puncture to limp back to the pits, passing Martins, who’d climbed from his car following his DRS failure.
Doohan took the opportunity to pit, dropping from third to 11th but with a fresh set of supersoft tyres.
At the restart on Lap 27, Iwasa attacked Pourchaire for third into the opening chicane, the championship leading having to cede the spot in the context of his points advantage.
He then came under attack from Verschoor as he struggled for grip, quickly dropping away from Iwasa ahead in the closing laps.
With fresh tyres, Doohan made inroads, progressing to seventh with a fine move on Juan Manuel Correa at Variante Ascari on Lap 28.
It came moments before Crawford was forced to stop at the same chicane after running through the gravel to trigger the Virtual Safety Car as the field started the penultimate lap.
The full Safety Car was soon called for, effectively ending the race with Bearman winning from Iwasa and Pourchaire.
Doohan was stuck in seventh while Vesti’s title hopes were all but extinguished with two races left in the 2023 Formula 2 season.
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