Jack Doohan has claimed a second win at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium as part of Round 5 of the FIA Formula 3 Championship.
Victor of Race 2 on Saturday, which ended under Safety Car conditions, success on Sunday has left the Australian just 25 points behind Dennis Hauger at the top of the championship.
Harried by Victor Martins for much of the race, the 18-year-old hung on to take his third win of the season.
“I am very happy, although I didn’t have the pace that I would like to have had,” Doohan said post-race.
“We didn’t have the same pace as yesterday, but in the end, we got the job done and I adapted as well as I could have.
“Victor had an awesome race and had very strong pace.
“He was definitely quicker than I was, but luckily, I was able to pull away in the few areas that I was quicker and did enough to keep the gap. I am very happy and off to Zandvoort now.
“The gap to Dennis (Hauger) is definitely a lot better than 63, but there are two rounds to go, and my aim is to be in front of him. We are going to keep pushing as hard as we can.”
Starting behind the Safety Car owing to wet conditions, Doohan slowed the field before accelerating away with Martins tucked into his slipstream.
Martins made a move at the left-hander following Bruxelles, only to run wide for which he was told to hand the position back to his rival.
The continued for much of the 14-lap race until Martins fell back, crossing the line 1.6s away from Doohan at the chequered flag.
Alex Smolyar was third while points-leader Hauger crossed the line eighth, his title advantage having been eroded by 38 points over the course of the weekend.
A difficult round for Calan Williams ended with an 18th place finish, following on from his innocent role in the crash which ultimately ended Saturday’s second race.
The FIA Formula 3 Championship is in action next weekend in support of the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
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