Andrey Kerzhakov became the 9th winner of 10 races as he dominated a Sprint Race shortened by 2 laps at Silverstone. Behind him however, for the first time in FV2 history, the top 4 finishers from the Feature Race failed to finish the sprint race, due to a chaotic finish fueled by 2 oil spills on the start/finish line. Kerzhakov got off to the perfect start when the lights went out and immediately pulled a gap over Zhivko Dimitrov. Steven Kasami jumped van der Straten to take third, before Alexander McLaughlin jumped the pair of them at Turns 3 and 4. Mike Fredrickon Jr and Otso Toivonen both lost considerable ground at the start as they lost 3 and 4 places respectively, but overall it was a clean opening lap. Rodolfo de la Fuente and Viktor Ostberg both looked keen to make up for their retirements in the Feature Race. By the end of lap 2 both drivers had gained 5 positions from their starting positions, to run 14th and 17th respectively. De la Fuente even pulled a cracking move around the outside of Elnur Aliyev at Luffield on Lap 2, whilst Ostberg was taking the more conventional route in going up the inside of corners. All of a sudden this meant the Spaniard was behind yesterday's race winner in Hunter Ryan, who like those around him were struggling to make inroads on the cars in front as the field was just slowly spreading, before disaster struck the first driver of the day. That driver was James Vasquez, who's suspension failed him through Maggots and Becketts, forcing him to slip and slide into the gravel trap, ensuring his day would finish a lot earlier than anticipated. The next lap came around and Elnur Aliyev surprisingly cruised into pit lane to retire the car as well, as he was told to do so following a hydraulics issue. Unfortunately his brother Ikram wasn't flying the flag for their country either, as he was stuck down in 23rd position. The race really lacked in on track action and that was becoming apparent as some of the drivers quoted they were taking a 'Sunday Drive through the British Countryside'. That was until all hell began to break loose in the final laps of the race, as the field began to bunch up again. The first incident to occur was a dramatic suspension failure aboard Dominic Hanson's car going through Abbey. He flew into the gravel and subsequently had a retire on the spot. Just behind him on the pit straight, Henri Aliagas' engine failed, leaking oil just on the exit of the final corner. It was the trigger to the drama which brought the race alight. It was becoming clear quickly that either running completely off track, or cutting to the inside, 2 things that certainly weren't adhered to by Alexander McLaughlin as he half spun the car. Luckily he was able to recover and continue, but he dropped from 4th to 7th in the process. Just behind him, almost coincidentally, Oleksandr Zozulya's engine also failed on the pit straight, leaking even more oil onto the middle of the track with 2 laps to go. The car directly behind him in Otso Toivonen had to tip-toe through the middle of the oil lines, whilst Mike Fredrickson Jr and Rodolfo de la Fuente, who carried more speed riding the kerb, were both ahead by the time they got to Turn 3. The camera turned to look toward Felix Perez and Hunter Ryan, but they were no-where to be seen. They had both tripped on the oil and cannoned into the pit wall, bringing their afternoons to an abrupt end. The race as a result of the incident was red flagged and ended, with Kerzhakov winning from Dimitrov and Luuk van der Straten, who managed to jump 4 places throughout the final 2 racing laps to snatch the final podium spot from Sergio Alvarez. Full results below:
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