Rodin Motorsport heads back from Miami with several more pieces ofsilverware after a dominant weekend for Abbi Pulling in the second round of F1Academy. Two P1 trophies and two pole position tyres made their way back toFarnham as the Alpine-backed driver conducted a near-perfect weekend. TeammatesJessica Edgar and Lola Lovinfosse also picked up points in a strong showing forthe team.
On-track action began on Friday for theteam, with two 40-minute Free Practice sessions to get to grips with the tightand twisty circuit on the grounds of the Hard Rock Stadium. As the first actionof the weekend, Free Practice one saw times well off the eventual qualifyingpace, with plenty of dust hampering track performance. The drivers took fulladvantage of the practice time on offer, with many running this Miami circuitfor the first time.
Heading into Saturday, and withqualifying up first, consistency was the order of the day for all the drivers,with both their two fastest laps being taken into account to set the racegrids. While lap times were tight throughout the field, Pulling’s pace was nomatch for her competitors, logging two lap times over four-tenths faster thanher rivals to claim double pole position. Charlotte Tilbury-backed Lovinfosse’sfastest time would be good enough for tenth, but a grid penalty would see herstart Race onr from 15th. Edgar’s second fastest time, in her newly liveredAmerican Express car, would see her start Race two from ninth, with all signspointing to the potential of a strong weekend for all three drivers.
The team took to the grid in the heatof the Saturday afternoon sun for Race one. Despite a lock-up into the firstcorner, Pulling had already extended over a one-second gap on Pin by the end ofthe lap, which grew to over five seconds by the end of the race. Edgar andLovinfosse kept their noses clean and made brilliant passes to both climbpositions, finishing sixth and tenth respectively and earning the team a stronghaul of points.
Heading into Grand Prix Sunday, alleyes were on Pulling to see if she could repeat the glory of the previous day.After early contact, the stewards handed Lovinfosse a ten-second time penalty,leaving her with lots to do on track to get something out of the race. Edgarlooked strong as she battled through the field but a spin saw her race endearly.
Bringing home her second win of theweekend, and a point for fastest lap, Pulling saw the chequered flag nearlyfour seconds ahead of Bianca Bustamante rounding out a near-perfect weekend.Scoring all bar one of the points on offer this weekend, Pulling extends herlead in the championship to 34 points with a total of 99 whilst teammates Edgarand Lovinfosse sit on 18 points and 5 points respectively. In the teamstandings, Rodin Motorsport's 122 points leaves them just two points adrift ofthe top heading into the third round.
F1 Academy will return to action inBarcelona in late June.
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