Flörsch equals her best ever F3 result in Vallelunga race 2

More rain fell on the Italian circuit this morning before the Tatuus T318 cars went on the grid for the second race of the Formula Regional European Championship.

Sophia Flörsch lined up in sixth after a convincing qualifying effort yesterday.

Everybody opted to start on wet tyres, except for yesterday's podium finisher Marcos Siebert.

Due to the still very wet track surface, the race was started behind the Safety Car and the 14 cars were shown the green flag after two laps.

At the rolling start, race 1 winner David Schumacher overtook Sophia for P6, as the 18 year-old from Munich apparently struggled in the very first stages of the race to find some speed.

Igor Fraga passed her one lap later, demoting Flörsch to eighth.

In the meantime, Swiss Sharon Scolari got handed a 10" penalty for a starting infringement.

Her race went from bad to worse when after a couple of trips through the grass, the Scorace Team driver went wide at turn 12 and damaged her front wing. She retired shortly afterwards.

The Prema team was back in full force, as by lap 10 its three drivers were battling ahead for the top 3 positions.

The second half of the race marked a decisive comeback for Flörsch, as her lap times kept improving throughout the session: she passed Fraga and, after catching David Schumacher, she made her way back into P6.

In clear air, Flörsch quickly reduced the gap to Blomqvist and passed the Finn on the last lap of the race to cross the finish line in fifth place, thus matching her best ever result in F3.

Sophia Flörsch has shown some impressive ability to quickly learn the new car and tyres so far, proven by solid results and tangible progresses in race pace.

Race 3 will be live from Vallelunga, Italy at 16:15 local time.

Ph credits: ACI Sport