ROAD TO F1: Honda-backed Matsushita completes stunning F2 win from P18 in Spain

Nobuharu Matsushita won a manic Formula 2 Feature Race on Saturday afternoon at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – having started the day all the way back in 18th place – thanks in part to a well-timed safety car.

Meanwhile Ferrari junior Robert Shwartzman got his title bid back on track after a difficult Round 5, taking second place ahead of Guanyu Zhou.

For the majority of the race, polesitter Callum Ilott had looked certain to seal a third win of the season, which would have extended his grip on the lead of the drivers’ championship, but the Ferrari protege ended up in fifth after a chaotic climax.

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A late safety car, brought out after a collision between Sean Gelael and Giuliano Alesi, forced a number of the grid to pit for a second time – including Ilott. This shuffled the pack and handed Matsushita third, directly behind UNI-Virtuousi's Ilott, the MP Motorsport driver having pitted just ahead of the collision.

With fresh, warmer, soft tyres, Matsushita flung himself ahead of Ilott for second, before dashing past Tsunoda, who also hadn’t pitted during the Safety Car period. PREMA's Shwartzman and Zhou both made their way through for the final podium places, as Ilott dropped all the way to fifth.

Starting from reverse grid pole, Luca Ghiotto will be on the hunt for a second win of 2020 in the Sprint Race tomorrow, at 1110am local time.

For more on F2, visit the official series website.