Abbi Pulling from Great Britain, representing Rodin Motorsport, achieved a remarkable feat in the FIA Formula Academy Round 2 Race 2 at the Miami International Autodrome on May 4, 2024. Pulling secured a commanding victory, finishing the race with a five-second lead. This win solidified her position as the leader in the Drivers’ Championship, with a 21-point advantage over Doriane Pin, a driver from the Mercedes Junior team. Bianca Bustamente also had an impressive performance, holding off strong competition to secure her first podium finish of the year. However, Pulling’s dominance throughout the weekend in Miami allowed her to clinch a double victory.
Right from the start, Pulling defended her lead, successfully navigating the first turn while Bustamente faced pressure from Pin. Unfortunately, there was an incident on the opening lap in Sector 2, involving Hausmann and Lovinfosse, which forced both drivers to retire from the races in Miami. On Lap 2, Nerea Martí engaged in a thrilling battle with Maya Weug, with Chloe Chambers also joining the fray. As the race progressed, Nobels made a daring move, overtaking Weug on the long straight after Turn 16, but Weug managed to defend her position in Turns 17 and 18. Martí, in her pursuit of Edgar in 10th place, made a mistake at Turn 6, falling just short of closing the gap. Bustamente remained within a second of the race leader for the first four laps but eventually lost the advantage as she fell out of the DRS zone on Lap 5. Despite attempting to overtake the Wildcard Entrant at Turn 14, Bustamente went wide and had to give back the 14th place. Emely De Heus, on the other hand, successfully overtook Courtney Crone at Turn 15, steadily making progress through the field. Weug also made a bold move, overtaking Hamda Al Qubaisi at Turn 1 and skillfully defending her position through Turns 3 and 4, gaining one position in the process.
The top three drivers started to distance themselves from the rest of the pack on Lap 6, with Pin in third place, five seconds ahead of the Haas-nominated driver Chambers.
A mistake from the Tommy Hilfiger driver at Turn 12 left her vulnerable to Edgar in 10th place as the British driver pursued a secure position in the points.
Lovinfosse made a daring move on Nobels at Turn 6, causing Nobels to run off the track in defense of her position. However, the two drivers later collided going into Turn 17.
Both drivers fell to the back of the grid and resumed racing, but Lovinfosse was given a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Hausmann on Lap 1.
The incident at Turn 17 was observed by the race stewards on Lap 9, resulting in an additional 10-second penalty for the Charlotte Tilbury driver.
Pin closely followed the McLaren Development Driver, staying within striking distance, while the young rally driver Lia Block battled with Edgar.
Edgar briefly went off track at Turn 11 before finally overtaking Martí at Turn 13, engaging in a side-by-side battle for three corners.
After returning the position to Martí, Edgar quickly overtook the Tommy Hilfiger driver again, but spun coming out of Turn 6.
Pin came within a second of Bustamente but was unable to overtake her on the final turn, losing ground as they entered the straight.
The McLaren-nominated driver made an impressive recovery to secure second place after a disastrous Race 1, earning her first podium finish of 2024, while Pin finished in third.
Chambers maintained her fourth position, followed by Emirati racer Hamda Al Qubaisi in fifth, with Martí close behind in sixth.
Amna Al Qubaisi finished in eighth place, while Carrie Shreiner secured a points finish in ninth, and De Heus rounded off the top 10.
Block narrowly missed out on scoring points, finishing just four-tenths outside of the top positions, while the Wildcard Entrant improved on her Race 1 performance with a 12th place finish.
Due to penalties, Lovinfosse finished 46 seconds behind the race leader in 15th place, with sponsor Charlotte Tilbury waving the checkered flag.