Doriane Pin secured a dominant victory in Zandvoort's Race 2, recovering from a challenging Race 1 to finish ahead of Maya Weug and Abbi Pulling, as she returned to the top step of the podium after Jeddah.
Doriane Pin returned to the top step of the podium at Zandvoort, responding to her championship rival with a dominant performance that included pole position, fastest lap, and a lights-to-flag victory in Race 2.
Pin, who secured pole with the second-fastest lap in Saturday's wet qualifying, redeemed herself after a penalty in Race 1 by making a strong start and managing tyre degradation in the closing laps to finish ahead of Maya Weug and Abbi Pulling.
Despite finishing second in Race 1, Pin was demoted to fifth due to a jump-start penalty after her car slightly moved before the lights went out. Determined to regain points from Pulling, who claimed a dominant victory in the morning, Pin was on a mission in the final race of the weekend.
With just over an hour between the two races, all 16 cars lined up under packed grandstands for the second and final contest of the weekend—and the European leg of the 2024 F1 Academy championship.
At lights out, Pin made a strong start, while Pulling struggled and was quickly overtaken by Maya Weug. Aurelia Nobels had an excellent start from fourth, holding her position ahead of Nina Gademan and Hamda Al Qubaisi. Lia Block and Jessica Edgar stalled on the grid but eventually got away, while Race 1 podium finisher Nerea Marti made contact with Nobels at Turn 2, forcing her onto the gravel and dropping her to ninth.
Starting from the back of the field, Amna Al Qubaisi quickly climbed to 13th by Lap 2, passing her MP Motorsport teammate Emely De Heus. Meanwhile, Hamda Al Qubaisi engaged in close battles, putting pressure on Gademan. Carrie Schreiner, a race winner last year, aimed to capitalize on these skirmishes. Chloe Chambers had a challenging start, losing a position to the recovering Bianca Bustamante, who was forced to start from the last row after a qualifying accident.
Up front, Pin built a one-second gap on Weug, who had Pulling right behind her, setting purple sectors.
Gademan showed the pace to pass Nobels for fourth but soon had to defend from the fast-charging Hamda Al Qubaisi. A fierce battle ensued between Nobels, Gademan, and Al Qubaisi at Turn 1, though positions remained unchanged. However, this battle allowed the top three to pull away by over eight seconds. With a new fastest lap, Pin extended her lead, while Pulling continued to press Weug for second.
On Lap 9, Gademan executed a pass at the chicane, taking fourth as Nobels ran wide. Hamda Al Qubaisi followed suit, pulling a gap. Nobels found herself defending from Schreiner and Lola Lovinfosse. Unfortunately for Gademan, she received a 10-second penalty for her contact with Nobels.
Further down the field, Chambers came under pressure from Amna Al Qubaisi, who attempted a move at the chicane but had to back out. This allowed De Heus to close in and eventually snatch 13th from her MP Motorsport teammate.
Doriane Pin remained unchallenged in the lead, with Weug and Pulling trailing by less than two seconds.
In the final laps, Hamda Al Qubaisi continued to chase Gademan’s Prema car. After 17 closely-fought laps, Pin secured her victory, followed by Maya Weug—who claimed a back-to-back podium—and Abbi Pulling in third, maintaining her streak of finishing on the podium in every race so far.
After penalties were applied, Hamda Al Qubaisi was classified fourth, scoring crucial points, while Aurelia Nobels achieved her first top-five finish. Carrie Schreiner finished sixth, her best result of the season, ahead of Lola Lovinfosse—who secured her best result since last year’s podium at Paul Ricard—and Nerea Marti in eighth. Tina Hausmann and Nina Gademan rounded out the top ten. Despite her penalty, Gademan scored 13 points, over the weekend, placing her 12th in the championship standings.
Bianca Bustamante recovered from the back of the field to P11 but was just short of points; Chloe Chambers had a troubled second race to finish P12, in her first race outside the points. Emely De Heus finished 13th in her home race, ahead of Amna Al Qubaisi, Lia Block, and Jessica Edgar.
After four of seven rounds, Abbi Pulling leads the championship by 71 points, with a total of 190 points from eight races. The battle for third place is heating up, with Chambers, Marti, Weug, and Hamda Al Qubaisi separated by just 18 points.
Aurelia Nobels made significant strides at Zandvoort—boosted by her recent appearance in British F4—and moved up to eighth in the standings with 22 points, tied with Edgar. Carrie Schreiner had her most successful weekend this year and climbed to tenth, ahead of Aston Martin driver Tina Hausmann, who also returned to the points at Zandvoort after a strong weekend in Barcelona.
The next round will take place in Singapore in September, on the third street circuit of the season.
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