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Deletraz snatches amazing F2 Virtual Racing win with last lap move on the finish straight
There was drama all the way to the finish line in Sunday's F2 Virtual Racing series as Louis Deletraz battled with Roberto Mehri all the way down the finish straight on the final lap of the Sprint Race to snatch an amazing victory.
Jack Aitken had started on pole for what was the final event in the F2 Virtual Racing series before the real F2 and F3 championships get back up and running in July at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. But he dropped right down the order after carnage on the opening lap saw plenty of spins and cars in the wall, allowing second-place man Roberto Mehri to take the lead.
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The ex-F1 driver than began pulling out a healthy lead at the front of the field as the squabbles continued behind him.
But Deletraz – fresh from his win in the Feature Race in Monaco two weeks ago – began hunting him down and with just one lap to go, he was right on Mehri's tail. It looked like Mehri, driving for Campos, had done enough to hold Deletraz off, but the young Swiss wasn't ready to give up and pulled out alongside his rival as they thundered down the finish straight towards the line.
And right at the death, Deletraz managed to get past, as Mehri suffered a spin just yards from the finish, after he tapped the left rear of Deletraz's Charouz.
The drag race to the line in the F2 Virtual Sprint Race
Rookie Piastri takes victory in the Feature Race
The Feature Race had a very different finish, with Oscar Piastri – making his debut in the F2 Virtual Racing series – storming to victory on the virtual streets of Baku.
The Australian Renault Sport Academy driver laid down a marker with a pole lap that was more than three tenths quicker than his closest rival Lirim Zendeli, as pre-race favourites Arthur Leclerc and Louis Deletraz were disqualified from qualification for track limit offences.
And when the lights when out for the race, Piastri proved he's no one-lap specialist by maintaining the lead off the line, and then building up a commanding gap to the rest of the field to eventually take the chequered flag over ten seconds ahead of Zendeli in second, in what was an astonishing display on his first race in the series.
Overtake of the day: Jack Aitken
He may not have taken the win in either the Feature or the Sprint race, but Jack Aitken did pull off an astonishing overtaking manoeuvre in the former.
On Lap 5, Enzo Fittipaldi and Matteo Nannini were locked in a battle for second position when Aitken came from nowhere to steam past the pair of them with a stunning Daniel Ricciardo-esque move to take second place.
If you missed any of the action, you can watch the highlights in the video below.
READ MORE: Russell seals third successive win in Virtual Azerbaijan GP as Leclerc struggles in Baku
Highlights: F2 Virtual Racing at Baku
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