Invicta Virtuosi Racing left the FIA Formula 2 Championship's final double-header of July two wins stronger.
Jack Doohan followed up a "perfect race" at the Hungaroring with an incredible second victory in the space of a week, having started the Feature Race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps from P11.
HUNGARY
Jack's weekend got off to the perfect start, with the Australian securing a fourth F2 Pole Position in Friday’s Qualifying session.
After lining up in the P1 spot for the 37-lap Feature Race, Jack got a clean launch off the line, comfortably holding off his competitors. He made the most of his soft-tyre stint, building a six-second advantage, before switching to mediums for the final 12 laps.
Jack's dominance continued in the final run. The Aussie set the fastest lap with a time that was 0.768 seconds faster than the next quickest racer, before cruising across the line with a nine-second lead to win the Formula 2 Feature Race at Hungary, a year on from his Sprint Race victory at the same circuit. The victory was the 20-year-old's fourth in the series and first of the 2023 season.
The Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver has written his name into the history books, becoming only the second ever driver to score a Grand Chelem in FIA Formula 2 history. A Grand Chelem is achieved by taking Pole Position in Qualifying and winning the race with the Fastest Lap, after leading every single lap.
BELGIUM
Luck did not go the way of the Invicta Virtuosi duo in Qualifying at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Jack was unable to set a representative time as traffic, incoming rain, and pit-lane order all worked against him, leaving him 11th in the order.
However, the team's fortunes changed in Formula 2's main event on Sunday, when the 20-year-old Aussie risked a bold alternative tyre strategy, lining up in 11th with Medium tyres, as opposed to the fastest Soft compound that the majority started on.
Jack made up three positions in the opening eight laps and inherited the lead when the Soft-tyre runners pitted. Luck hasn't often gone the way of Invicta Virtuosi Racing in 2023, but the team were able to take full advantage of a fortuitously-timed Safety Car, pitting for Softs and returning to the track in second place behind title rival Theo Pourchaire.
Jack made his move for P1 with three laps to go, overtaking Pourchaire and setting the race's Fastest Lap in the process. He pulled a 1.9s gap on the Frenchman in the final laps before crossing the line in first place for his second Feature Race win in the space of a week and fifth overall in the championship.
The Australian heads into the Summer break in title contention, sitting fourth in the Drivers' Championship standings, just 38 points short of the current leader, Pourchaire.
Formula 2 will return to action at Zandvoort in late August before travelling to Monza and Abu Dhabi for the final rounds.
