DAMS showed excellent pace in round 3 of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship at Imola, scoring points in both races and leading the feature race with Roy Nissany.
Red Bull Junior Ayumu Iwasa put in a stellar performance in just his third F2 qualifying session, finishing second on a wet track, with Nissany also setting a personal best in sixth.
Nissany got off to a great start in Saturday’s Sprint Race, challenging for podiums and eventually finishing fourth, his best result of the season.
On Sunday, Nissany got another incredible launch, going from sixth to first leading up to Turn 1 and leading through the opening stages. After the pit stop phase, the Israeli driver kept the net lead in the race until a mistake ended his chances of victory.
Japanese rookie Ayumu Iwasa performed maturely and took fifth place in the feature race, his best result in his F2 career to date. “I’m happy with how the weekend went, I think there was potential for more points, but we showed a great pace as a team. Qualifying was tricky with the conditions, but the car felt really good and I was really happy with P2 and a front row start on Sunday. I got a bit stuck in the pack on Saturday because it’s hard to overtake here, so we just missed points. We lost a few pits in the feature race as I had to wait for Roy to complete his stop in front of me in the double stack, but we had good pace to get to P5. It could have been more, but I’m happy with my first visit to Imola and looking forward to Barcelona next month.”
Roy Nissany : “The car felt great in qualifying, the track was drying, so I was happy with our performance. On Saturday we had a solid race, I got a brilliant start and by the end of the race we had a very good pace. We were so close to the podium and with one more lap we probably would have made it. My start in the feature race was great, I jumped five places to take the lead. The team did a perfect pit stop and we felt comfortable in the net lead, but I made a small mistake with big consequences and that was the end of our day. I’m sorry for the team, they gave me a great car this weekend and hopefully we can bounce back in Barcelona. †
Francois Sicard, Managin Director: “It was interesting for the team to return to Imola for the first time in ten years, it was almost like going to a brand new track. The drivers did very well in qualifying to both finish in the top six. Roy made a great start on Saturday to take P4, while Ayumu had a solid race, with overtaking problems at this track. Roy was even quicker off the line in the feature race and kept up his pace until he made a small mistake and held onto the net lead after the pit stop phase. It’s a shame because he had an almost perfect weekend apart from that moment. Ayumu lost a bit in the pits, unfortunately he had a slow stop. We had to double stack under the Safety Car, which made it difficult for the crew, but it would have fallen even further if we had left it out. He handled it well and raced strongly to the end, with a very solid result. We know we could have taken more points this weekend, but the most important thing is that we have a fast car. We are now looking forward to Barcelona, it’s a circuit we know well after testing there earlier this season. †
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