Alpine and Rodin Motorsports’ Abbi Pulling dominated the two F1 Academy races in Miami with mixed results for her team.
Leading from the front the Brit made it three wins from four races as her rivals fought over the other podium places.
Mercedes and Prema Racings Doriane Pin had to settle for second and third while her teammate and Ferrari driver Maya Weug finished fourth but a penalty sent her back to sixth and a fifth place finished her weekend.
Cumbria’s Jessica Edgar sporting a new blue livery thanks to American Express took seventh in her first race before a spin in the second took her out of the points.
Race One
Controlling the race from pole, the Alpine driver Pulling led every lap and never looked back, taking the chequered flag with a 5-second advantage over second-placed Pin.
Chloe Chambers gave her home crowd something to celebrate, battling hard to go from seventh to her first podium in the series.
Pulling kept Pin at bay from the start and never looked back, disaster struck for McLaren’ Bianca Bustamante who stalled on the grid, going from fourth to the back of the pack.
Tina Hausmann’s race came to an early end after contact with Aurelia Nobels sent the Aston Martin driver off and into the wall with Nobels handed a 10-second penalty.
A three-car battle for fourth saw Weug forced to go on the defensive as Nerea Martí went on the attack with Chambers sat patiently, waiting to pounce.
Chambers looked to a move to the left of Hamda Al Qubaisi, but the American driver left a gap for Weug to sneak through on both her and the Red Bull Racing driver.
However, Weug overshot the corner, allowing Chambers to breeze past both and up into third.
Weug took the chequered flag in fourth, but dropped down to P6 after a 5-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, promoting Martí and Hamda Al Qubaisi up two places.
American Express driver Jessica Edgar secured six points in seventh, whilst Amna Al Qubaisi rocketed up six places to go from fourteenth to eighth.
Bustamante’s penalty dropped her from seventh to ninth, with Lola Lovinfosse claiming the final point in tenth after Nobels’ penalty demoted her to thirteenth.
Race Two
Pulling made it two for two as she brought home her second win.
Bustamante held off a late charge from Pin to earn her first podium for McLaren in second.
Pole-sitter Pulling was instantly on the defensive from Bustamante as the lights went green, but managed to hold on to the lead.
Chambers again went on a charge, starting in eighth l the Haas driver went past Nobels, Martí and Weug in the opening sequence of corners to move up to fifth and then pounced on Hamda Al Qubaisi to head into fourth.
Hausmann found herself out on the opening lap for the second race in a row after locking up, Lola Lovinfosse collided with the Aston Martin, forcing her to retire with a right rear puncture.
Lovinfosse received a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.
It was not Lovinfosse’ day as she locked up with a late move, catching Nobels and sending the Brazilian driver into a spin.
Both rejoined, with Lovinfosse handed another 10-second penalty for the incident.
Jessica Edgar was on the move with an overtake on Martí for seventh. However, Edgar’s race unravelled a few corners later, losing the rear and spinning down the places.
Pulling brought home her second comfortable win in Miami to extended her advantage over Pin at the top of the Drivers’ Standings to 34 on 99 points.
Bustamante was second, whilst Pin finished third as Chambers ended her home round in fourth ahead of Weug, Hamda Al Qubaisi and Martí in seventh.
Amna Al Qubaisi put in another fighting performance from fourteenth to finish eighth ahead of Schreiner, whilst Red Bull Ford’s De Heus earned her first point of the season in tenth.
What’s Next
The F1 Academy heads to Europe as the Spanish city of Barcelona on June 21-23 for the third round.
Drivers Championship
- Abbi Pulling (Apline/Rodin Motorsport) – 99
- Doriane Pin (Mercedes/Prema Racing) – 65
- Maya Weug (Ferrari/Prema Racing) – 51
- Chloe Chambers (Haas/Campos Racing) – 40
- Bianca Bustamante (McLaren/Art Grand Prix) – 39
- Nerea Marti (Tommy Hilfiger/Campos Racing) – 33
- Hamda Al Qubaisi (Red Bull/MP Motorsport) – 30
- Jessica Edgar (F1 Academy/Rodin Motorsport) – 18
- Amna Al Qubaisi (RB/MP Motorsport) – 12
- Carrie Schreiner (Kick Sauber/Campos Racing) – 9
- Tina Hausmann (Aston Martin/Prema Racing) – 8
- Aurelia Nobles (Puma/Art Grand Prix) – 6
- Lola Lovinfosse (Charlotte Tilbury/Rodin Motorsport) – 4
- Lia Block (Williams/Art Grand Prix) – 1
- Emily De Heus (Reb Bull/MP Motorsport) – 0
- Reema Juffali (F1 Academy/Prema Racing) – 0
- Courtney Crone (QVC/Prema Racing) – 0
Constructors Championship
- Prema Racing – 124
- Rodin Motorsport – 122
- Campos Racing – 82
- Art Grand Prix – 46
- MP Motorsport – 42
THE HERDWICK NEWS 