Aussie Watch: Doohan off the hook despite Dutch disaster
Monday, 28 August 2023
Jack Doohan went scoreless at Zandvoort after crashing out before Sunday's FIA Formula 2® Feature race even began, but remains in title contention after none of his championship rivals could trouble the scorers.
Jack Doohan's winning ways in FIA Formula 2® came to a bizarre end in a barely-believable Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday, with the Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver crashing at the end of the formation lap to retire before the race even began at Zandvoort.
Doohan, winner of the previous two F2® Feature races in Hungary and Belgium, qualified fifth and held position as the pack took the formation lap behind the safety car following early-morning rain in the Netherlands.
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As the field rounded the final banked sequence of corners to take the green flag to start the race, the 21-year-old lost control and spun to the top of the circuit, ending up against the wall on the inside of the track as the field surged past to begin the race.
A distraught Doohan climbed from his car and sat with his back to the track inside the barriers as a wild race then took place over 40 laps.
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Frenchman Clement Novalak – 19th in the world championship standings for the Trident team and having scored two points all season – took his maiden F2 win from 13th on the grid in a race where – remarkably – Doohan lost no ground to the three drivers ahead of him in the standings.
Championship leader Theo Pourchaire (France, ART) crashed on a slippery track at Turn 7 after taking his pit stop on lap 10, while nearest title rival Frederik Vesti spun out on the same lap after his own stop, both rear tyres coming off the Danish driver's Prema machine after they weren't affixed properly in the pits.
Japanese driver Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS), third in the championship, finished 13th and out of the points after a 10-second time penalty for an early-race clash with Campos driver Kush Maini.
Frenchman Victor Martins, one place behind Doohan in the standings in fifth, was demoted from fifth to ninth at the flag after his own 10-second time penalty, the ART driver punting off Briton Oliver Bearman (Prema, sixth in the standings) just before half-race distance.
With the top four drivers in the series failing to score any points, Doohan retains fourth overall with a 38-point deficit to series leader Pourchaire with four races remaining this season in Italy and Abu Dhabi, and a maximum of 78 points on offer.
Doohan's Sunday stumble was the second year in succession he's had unusual Dutch drama; in 2022, he was taken out at a safety car restart by local driver Richard Verschoor while in contention for a podium result.
On Saturday, Doohan started and finished sixth in a Sprint race that was abandoned after two laps and saw no points awarded after heavy rain delayed the start. A multi-car accident at Turn 6 on the first racing lap between Campos Racing teammates Maini and Ralph Boschung, along with Hitech's Jak Crawford, saw the race immediately red-flagged and not restarted.
Doohan will be back in action at next weekend's Italian Grand Prix (September 1-3) at Monza, which also plays host to the final round of the FIA Formula 3® season for Aussie trio Christian Mansell (12th in the world championship standings), Hugh Barter (18th) and Tommy Smith (25th).
