IMOLA GP: JORDAN STRIKES AGAIN AS RACING BULLS EXTEND EARLY SEASON CONTROL

Round 2 of Season 21 delivered the kind of chaos only Imola can provide: a full-wet launch, a first-lap mêlée far below A1881’s usual racecraft standards and a Safety Car triggered immediately. Through all of it, Jordan remained untouchable, converting pole into victory and leading every lap on his way to a second consecutive win. AA_Mejg completed another 1-2 for the Swedish squad, while SV5-3787 brought Mercedes back to the podium despite a time penalty dropping what could have been a stronger finish.


Weather was the key storyline: the race began on full wets, then transitioned to dry around lap 18. Strategy calls split the field wide open as some switched early to intermediates while others extended their wet tyres. Rian in the Alpine was one of the few who committed to full wets from the start, and although he fired off the line brilliantly, he failed to slow down for Turn 1 and slid into the runoff. The recovery drive was strong, but three pit stops left him fighting back to P4 right over his teammate.

Endru delivered a tidy, mistake-free drive in the other Alpine to finish P5 after starting P10, navigating the lap-one mess with impressive composure. Javinwain’s Red Bull showed top-six pace before the lap-one incident with SV5 compromised his race, but he still fought back to P6 once the track dried.

Ferrari had a split afternoon. Energetic, reserving for Gordini, managed P7 and crucially finished ahead of Rollie—an important benchmark for Gordini’s camp this season. Tbran started the race strongly but stayed on full wets too long during the transition phase, slipping backwards to P13 once the track dried.

Aston Martin enjoyed a lively intra-team battle as Rollie finished P8, winning a clean fight with teammate Dunce, who came home P9 after serving penalties that cost him track position. Selecta nearly snatched P8 for Mercedes on the final lap, eventually settling for P10 after a strong late-race chase that saw him reel in both Aston Martins in the closing minutes.

The Williams duo again had a subdued afternoon. NaeDangerDavid finished P11 after an early off forced him into midfield traffic, while Bards crossed the line in P12 without ever quite finding a rhythm.

Scaparro’s McLaren ended up P14 after seemingly triggering the Turn 1 chaos, never fully recovering pace. Ibbo secured P15 for KICK Sauber with a steady run, while Domcyr made his A1881 debut in the other KICK Sauber but was forced to drive with a default setup after joining late, ultimately retiring but gaining valuable experience. SCR_FTronc retired early unexpectedly.

Crunchypancake retired after the treacherous early wet laps, where grip vanished unpredictably and several cars were caught out.

With VisaRB now stretching out to 146 points in the constructors’ standings, Alpine and Mercedes already need big results to keep the championship alive. Looks like when Jordan gets a car that behaves how he wants, the rest of the field is basically negotiating for whatever’s left on the podium and his two-for-two start may be his cleanest opening yet. 

Jordan’s post-race interview will be added later.

You can find the commentated stream of the race by Ironghost in the link below: 

https://www.youtube.com/live/s9DC6XpGk40?si=9iK3QaibDNAnc4U5&t=3920

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