Rodin driver Stenshorne triumphs in chaotic F2 race in Canada

The race in Canada kicked off with Lauren Van Hoepen in the Trident involved in an early battle with Nikola Tsolov, with the latter attempting to get an early jump on the Dutch driver. However, the early battle would soon settle with pockets of rain spotted at Turn 10.

With the grid on the softest compound tyres, many drivers opted to simply tiptoe around the early laps of the race. Tsolov, however, would soon increase the pressure on Van Hoepen, with the Bulgarian piling on the pressure. Further down the grid, Formula 3 champion Rafael Camara would complete an overtake on Gabriele Mini, with the Brazilian executing the move ahead of the pair approaching the hairpin.

The rain would soon intensify, with Van Hoepen, who had claimed Trident’s team’s first pole in two years, attempting to protect his lead against Tsolov before crashing into the famous Wall of Champions. The 20-year-old slammed his front-right tyre into the wall, prompting the safety car.

Much of the grid would opt not to pit during the safety car window. However, another safety car would soon follow, with Enzo Fittipaldi crashing at Turn 1, just after exiting the pit lane on fresh soft tyres in the tricky conditions. While much of the grid then dived into the pits for a change of tyres, the woes at Trident would continue, with second driver John Bennett clattering into Rafael Villagómez in the pit lane, leaving the British driver with damage to the front end of his car.

With the multiple pit stops came changes at the top of the pecking order, with Roman Bilinski leading the field ahead of Colton Herta. Further chaos would soon unfold, this time with Tsolov making contact with Kush Maini as the rain gradually intensified. The tricky conditions would soon see Bilinski slide wide at the hairpin, allowing Martinius Stenshorne to move into the lead of the race.

The next to become a casualty of the tricky conditions was Camara, who spun as he approached Turn 2. The incident saw the Invicta Racing driver drop to the back of the field. Ritomo Miyata would also soon have his own spin at the famous hairpin before Dino Beganovic was forced to retire from the race due to an engine issue, which prompted another safety car. While under the safety car, and with Camara handed a five-second penalty for his incident with Maini, Mari Boya also spun under the safety car.

The race would soon resume with Stenshorne and his Rodin teammate Alex Dunne leading the race ahead of Mini, who leads the championship standings. The race would however end under the safety car, with Oliver Goethe suffering a crash during the final stages of the race.

Stenshorne would take the chequered flag in first place ahead of Dunne and Mini. Joshua Dürksen finished in fourth place, with Tsolov in fifth, Sebastián Montoya finishing in sixth, ahead of Cian Shields, who scored a seventh-place finish. Nicolás Varrone finished in eighth, with Bilinski coming home in ninth place and Herta wrapping up the points-scoring places with a 10th-place finish.