F2: Barnard seals maiden victory with dominant performance in Monte Carlo Sprint Race

Taylor Barnard sealed his and AIX Racing’s maiden Formula 2 victory after overcoming two Safety Car stoppages and a late Red Flag to win the Monte Carlo Sprint Race.

After lining up on reverse grid pole, Barnard was forced to defend from his fellow front row starter Gabriel Bortoleto heading into Turn 1.

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From then on, he handled the pressure well while his Invicta Racing rival looked to force him into a mistake. The red flags were then waved in the closing stages after Zane Maloney spun at La Rascasse after being hit in the rear by DAMS Lucas Oil’s Juan Manuel Correa.

The Rodin Motorsport driver stopped in the middle of the road, leaving Kush Maini with nowhere to go, causing the Invicta #9 car to stop in sympathy next to him on track.

The incident brought a halt to the action but after a rolling start resumed proceedings, Barnard sprinted off into the distance to win by over five seconds.

Maini’s teammate and McLaren development driver Bortoleto added to the team’s trophy cabinet by finishing second ahead of MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger in third.

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished in P4 for the third time in four races for PREMA Racing, crossing the line ahead of the second MP car of Franco Colapinto and Trident’s Roman Stanek.

Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron – who is second in the Drivers’ Championship – wound up in seventh, meaning he moves to 65 points. The Estonian also cuts the deficit to first-placed Maloney to three points ahead of the Feature Race, while Campos Racing’s Isack Hajdar rounded out the points in P8. Next up on the agenda for the drivers is the Monte Carlo Feature Race, which is set to start 0940 local time on Sunday morning.

For an in-depth report of the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race from Monte Carlo, visit the official website here.