Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Virtuosi Racing

  • Virtuosi confirm Doohan & Cordeel

    Virtuosi racing has announced its driver line-up for the 2023 FIA Formula 2 season, with Jack Doohan remaining with the team and Amaury Cordeel joins him.

    The Australian driver embarks on his second campaign with Virtuosi after achieving three victories this season, including a stand-out weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. Doohan ended the sprint race on the podium in P2 before going on to claim the Feature Race win on Sunday.

    He was also prolific in Qualifying, taking three pole positions across the season as well as a further three podiums in 2022.

    I’m thrilled to be continuing with Virtuosi Racing for my second year in Formula 2. After a strong first season together, I couldn’t be happier to be going into 2023 with the same great team around me. I can’t wait to get redemption from this season.

    Doohan remaining with the team.

    Cordeel joins Virtuosi on the back of a rookie campaign in F2 that ended with an improvement in form. The Belgian driver returned from the summer break and put together his most consistent run to date, scoring four times in the final six races.

    It included a season best at Yas Marina , finishing 5th in the Sprint Race and 6th in the Feature Race.

    I’m very happy to say I will be driving with virtuosi in F2 next year. It is clear that Virtuosi is among the top teams which will only make my personal growth better. I already noticed with the three-day test in Abu Dhabi that they support me insanely well. The second half of last season is very promising for next year. I am sure that together with them I can achieve my future dreams. Really thankful for this opportunity.

    Cordeel on his new seat.

    We’re delighted to be sticking with Jack for 2023. Jack enjoyed a brilliant rookie season with us and showed obvious potential for more. Together, we will be working hard to ensure he achieves that. Amaury’s results improved over his rookie year and we’ll be looking to work with him to improve further in 2023. Amaury settled into our car well during the Abu Dhabi post-season test and we’re looking forward to getting to it in 2023.

    Andy Roche, Virtuosi team boss.

  • F2 Spa- Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Greeted by cold and dry conditions, the mist loomed high over the Belgian hills and there were plenty of unknowns heading into the first race of the weekend after a lack of race runs in a highly disrupted practice session.

    Whilst Ralph Boschung assumed his spot on reverse grid pole on his return to the the track after suffering an injury, Jehan Daruvala’s day was brought to an early end before the lights had even gone out as the PREMA Racing driver pulled over on the reconnaissance lap.

    Unfortunately for the Swiss driver, the Belgian circuit isn’t short of overtaking opportunities. All over the back of the race leader, the Red Bull liveried Carlin sailed up into P1 along the Kemmel Straight.

    The race made a turn on Lap 11, Logan Sargeant lost his rear end on the exit of Pouhom and skidded into the barriers, triggering the Safety Car.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Lawson, P2: Doohan, P3: Boschung, P4: Drugovich, P5: Verschoor, P6: Pourchaire, P7: Armstrong, P8: Beckmann, P9: Iwasa and P10: Hauger.

    Day 3-

    Drugovich surged off the line and Doohan cleared Enzo Fittipaldi to take second into La Source. David Beckmann followed through down the Kemmel Straight on the Charouz Racing System at Les Combes to take third.

    Theo Pourchaire’s title hopes took a major hit, as he slid down the order and out of the race with an issue. Richard Verschoor took fifth from the Charouz on the next lap, using DRS.

    Fittipaldi and Sargeant were the first to pit for mediums on Lap 8, feeding back out in 14th and 15th places respectively. Lawson responded on the following lap, but it was a slow stop for the Carlin driver.

    Juri Vips and Lirim Zendeli were the first of those on mediums to swap to softs on Lap 15 whilst Verschoor and Iwasa continued to extend their stints at the front.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Drugovich, P3: Lawson, P4: Verschoor, P5: Fittipaldi, P6: Sargeant, P7: Beckmann, P8: Iwasa, P9: Vips and P10: Novalak.

  • F2 Silverstone – Day 2 & 3

    F2 Silverstone – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    After two formation laps behind the Safety Car, it gave drivers a sight of the conditions they would be starting in. Jehan Daruvala led comfortably when the race did get going, as most drivers played it safe on the opening lap, apart from Jake Hughes who was the only one to capitalise and gain a place.

    Vesti and Drugovich went into combat on lap 2 and the pair were side by side through Village, banging tyres through the loop onto the Wellington Straight. But into Brooklands, Vesti dived to the inside and claimed eighth place from the MP driver.

    As the track continued to dry, some drivers started to complain of overheating wet tyres, but Doohan was finding a rhythm. He took from Juri Vips into Village on Lap Five, diving down the inside and claiming the place. Daruvala had already been complaining of graining rear tyres and Fittipaldi took full advantage.

    Once more, Doohan was on the move through the Village – Loop section, this time taking the lead from Fittipaldi on lap seven after the Brazilian went deep at Village. Meanwhile, Liam Lawson was struggling massively having sustained front wing damage, he was soon passed by both ART GP along with Drugovich to drop him to 9th. Carlin then pitted him for repairs that dropped him down to last at the end of the lap.

    But it was Jack Doohan who took his first F2 victory and the teams home win aswell. Iwasa came home to finish second and he was joined by Fittipaldi to round out the podium.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Iwasa, P3: Fittipaldi, P4: Pourchaire, P5: Drugovich, P6: Vesti, P7: Sargeant, P8: Daruvala, P9: Armstrong and P10: Verschoor.

    Day 3-

    The first American on pole in Formula 2 history, Sargeant nailed a perfect getaway at the lights went out, but the same couldn’t be said for Vesti who joined the pole man on the front row. Meanwhile his ART teammate Pourchaire dived down the middle to leap up from fourth to second off the line…

    There were changes up and down the top 10, as Lawson shot up into third from fifth, with fellow Red Bull junior, Iwasa slotting up into fourth having started sixth. Drugovich lost out to drop down to fifth, as Armstrong hopped up into the points-scoring places in P9.

    Their momentum, was stopped on Lap 2, as contact between Dennis Hauger and Roy Nissany brought out the safety car. Going wide into the Club chicane, Nissany dived back on to track and into the path of the PREMA, cutting back the DAMS driver tagged Hauger, launching the Norwegian driver over the top of his car. Luckily, both drivers got out of the car okay, and that’s the main thing! The Halo is doing its job once again…

    As the race drew towards its conclusion, time was of the essence to make moves stick. Vips got the better of his teammate for sixth. But on the cusp of his maiden victory, Sargeant’s work wasn’t over yet on the penultimate lap. Pourchaire was breathing down his neck as the ART had closed right within the one-second DRS window.

    But it was Logan Sargeant who was victorious at Silverstone, Pourchaire finished 2nd a good amount of points for the championship, and to make it an even better day for Carlin, Liam Lawson finishes 3rd!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Sargeant, P2: Pourchaire, P3: Lawson, P4: Drugovich, P5: Vesti, P6: Vips, P7: Daruvala, P8: Armstrong, P9: Doohan and P10: Hughes.

    We are back next week, for round 8 in Austria, as we have now reached the halfway point of the season! Who will be victorious at the Red Bull Ring?…

  • F2 Barcelona – Day 1

    F2 Barcelona – Day 1

    Round 4 for Formula 2 this weekend, lets take a look at how the first day went.

    Free Practice-

    Felipe Drugovich led the way in free practice after multiple red flag stoppages. The MP Motorsport driver, was almost a full half-second clear of the pack, with Jehan Daruvala and Logan Sargeant his closest challengers.

    Olli Caldwell and Marcus Armstrong both brought out the red flags during the session, with the Campos Racing driver spinning and hitting the wall at Turn 9. Meanwhile Armstrong became beached in the gravel at Turn 4 as drivers struggled for grip.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Drugovich, P2: Daruvala, P3: Sargeant, P4: Doohan, P5: Lawson, P6: Vips, P7: Iwasa, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Hauger and P10: Williams.

    Qualifying-

    Before we start looking at the qualifying result, Ralph Boschung has withdrawn from this weekend as he is suffering from neck pain and wasn’t able to continue after the practice session.

    Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan, left it last minute as he stormed to his second pole position in Formula 2, the Aussie managed to hold off an extremely late charge from HiTech’s Juri Vips which saw the Estonian driver leap up from last to second and ahead of ART’s Frederik Vesti in third.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Vips, P3: Vesti, P4: Daruvala, P5: Sargeant, P6: Iwasa, P7: Pourchaire, P8: Hughes, P9: Williams and P10: Drugovich.

    Drugovich was meant to be starting on pole position for today’s sprint race but, he has a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Theo Pourchaire, so he now will be starting 4th. That promotes Calan Williams to pole position and Jake Hughes onto the front row.

  • F2 Bahrain- Day 1

    F2 Bahrain- Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Novalak had initially set the first laptime of the new Formula 2 season, with the Frenchman setting a 1:48.044. He then improved with his second tour of the track but it was Jake Hughes who jumped up to take P1 and setting a 1:45.294.

    Lawson’s first attempt at a flying lap put him second- half a second of Hughes, Marcus Armstrong briefly jumped ahead of him but the Carlin driver’s second attempt put him in first.

    PREMA’s Daruvala pushed Lawson down to second before Armstrong jumped ahead of him too, slotting into 2nd. MP Motorsport then bumped Daruvala down to third as Drugovich went first ahead of Novalak. With less than three minutes left, DAMS were able to break the MP pair up.

    PositionDriverTeamLaptime
    1Felipe DrugovichMP Motorsport1:44.484
    2Ayumu IwasaDAMS1:44.679
    3Roy NissanyDAMS1:44.754
    4Clement NovalakMP Motorsport1:44.769
    5Marcus ArmstrongHiTech Grand Prix1:44.833
    Top 5 Free Practice

    Qualifying-

    All 22 cars took to the track when the lights went green but the session was red-flagged due to Iwasa’s DAMS came to a halt. Once the car was off the track, the session then resumed, Jake Hughes and Amaury Cordeel the Van Amersfoort pair led the session.

    Hughes was sat in P1 after the first flying laps ended with a 1:41.469. The British driver kept on to the position as his second fast lap was enough to beat Felipe Drugovich to the top spot.

    But it was Jack Doohan who put himself on pole position for Sunday’s feature race, with Theo Pourchaire in P2 and Juri Vips in P3. Felipe Drugovich will start Saturday’s Sprint race in P1, with Verschoor lining up next to him and Jake Hughes in P3.

    PositionDriverTeamLaptime
    1Jack DoohanVirtuosi Racing1:40.542
    2Theo PourchaireART Grand Prix1:40.683
    3Juri VipsHiTech Grand Prix1:40.755
    4Logan SargeantCarlin1:40.760
    5Ralph BoschungCampos Racing1:41.000
    6Liam LawsonCarlin1:41.100
    7Jehan DaruvalaPREMA Racing1:41.115
    8Jake HughesVan Amersfoort Racing1:41.121
    9Richard VerschoorTrident1:41.178
    10Felipe DrugovichMP Motorsport1:41.210
    Top 10 Qualifying