By Steve Keating
SILVERSTONE, England (Reuters) – Logan Sargeant became the first driver from the United States to win a Formula Two race when he held off a challenge from Theo Pourchaire to claim victory at the British Grand Prix on Sunday.
Sargeant, a member of the Williams Formula One team driver academy, started from pole for the first time and controlled the race from the front, keeping his cool under pressure from Frenchman Pourchaire.
“What a weekend for me and (team) Carlin for that matter, first pole position, first feature race win – couldn’t be happier to be honest,” said Sargeant. “The car was absolutely hooked up and just looking forward to hopefully doing this more regularly.”
Brazilian Felipe Drugovich continues to lead the drivers championship with 148 points followed by Pourchaire on 106. Sargeant moved into third on 88.
While Sargeant’s victory was the first by an American in the rebranded Formula Two, his compatriot Alexander Rossi, who now drives in IndyCar, won in Abu Dhabi in 2013 in what was then the GP2 series.
The incident-filled raced had several cautions but the most serious was on lap two when Roy Nissany went wide off the track and shot directly back onto the circuit into the path of Dennis Hauger.
The Norwegian driver’s car flew into the air and on top of Nissany before coming to a stop in the gravel, with the halo device keeping the Israeli safe.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Silverstone, Editing by Ed Osmond)
