Doohan dominant in farewell F2 round

Photos: Jack Doohan and AGI Sport

Jack Doohan has ended his FIA Formula 2 Championship career on the ultimate high with a dominant race win in Abu Dhabi.

The 20-year-old impressed from the get-go with an emphatic pole position on Friday, finishing two-tenths of a second ahead of Alpine Academy Driver compatriot, Victor Martins.  

The Queenslander then had a decent run in the round’s sprint race, climbing from 10th to sixth place and gaining a valuable three points towards his championship tally.  

Doohan then took full advantage of his starting position in Sunday’s feature race with a strong start off the line, getting out to a one-second lead after the first lap around the circuit.  

The gap would continue to grow throughout the opening stages of the race, with almost four seconds in hand by the time his soft tyres were due for a routine change.  

From there, Doohan was able to maintain a healthy gap for the rest of the 33-lap affair and was barely headed to the line, finishing just under four seconds ahead of Martins while Frederick Vesti rounded out the podium a whopping 22-seconds back.  

231127_DoohansVesti’s podium meant that Ayumu Iwasa finished the race in P4, which allowed Doohan to jump the Japanese driver on the final standings and end the year in third place overall by the small margin of three points.   

The weekend was memorable for a number of reasons for Doohan, who in addition to his F2 victory, had another opportunity to take part in a Formula 1 free practice session with Alpine.  

Doohan was one of 10 rookie drivers to take part in Friday’s FP1 and went on to finish the session in 13th place, less than two-tenths of a second behind Alpine teammate and full-time driver, Pierre Gasly in ninth.  

With the practice session taking place immediately before Formula 2 qualifying, Doohan and the other F2 drivers were left with little preparation ahead of the final shootout of the year. However, the eventual pole position further exemplified Doohan’s talent behind the wheel.  

With many other championships around the world also coming to an end, one that is still in the midst of its season this weekend, with Jack Beeton amassing three top-five finishes in as many races as part of the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship.  

The penultimate round of the championship in Sepang started on a high with a weekend-best third place finish in race one. Making the podium was even sweeter was Beeton taking the lead in the outright standings as a result.

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While he was unable to return to the podium in the remaining races, a fifth and a fourth-place finish ensured he would enter the final round with that lead, with only three races standings between himself and a F4 title this weekend.  

Other Aussies featured in the round included Peter Bouzinelos and Nicolas Stati, although neither driver fortunate enough to make into the points for any race – Bouzinelos ending the round with an 18th, 12th and 11th, while Stati finished up with two P14s and an 11th place. 

The final round of the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship will be at Sepang International Circuit on 1-3 December. 

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