Abbi Pulling enjoyed a fine start to the F1 Academy season grabbing her first race win in the series to lead the drivers championships after the opening two races in Saudi Arabia.
The 20-year-old from Gosberton was quick all weekend, finishing second in all of the testing sessions and both qualifying sessions behind PERMA Motorsport’s Doriane Pin.
And while Pin won from the start in the first race on the Jeddah street circuit, in the second Pulling was given the win, her first F1 Academy triumph, after a retrospective penalty was added to the French driver’s times.
Pin dominated her first ever race in the format, moving away as Rodin Motorsport driver Pulling battled Ferrari driver Maya Weug for third early doors.
A safety car brought the pack back together ahead of a re-start on lap five, but after backing it up, Pin timed her advance perfectly when racing again with Pulling not acting quick enough and being forced to defend from Weug.
She eventually finished 0.848secs behind Pin and 6secs ahead of Weug while also earning a point for setting the fastest lamp.
Similarly Pin was quick in race two, leading from lights to flag despite coming under a host of pressure from Pulling throughout with the pair at times racing side by side.
Pulling, who is also being backed by the Alpine Formula One team, was unable to find away through on the track.
But post-race Pin was given a drive-through penalty for crossing the chequered flag twice and completing two laps at full speed until a red flag was shown.
As the penalty could not be served in-race, it was converted into a 20-second penalty added to her elapsed race time, giving Pulling the win.
All the drivers face a bit of a wait for the next round set to take place in Miami from May 3-5.
“A huge thank you to Rodin for the work they’ve been putting in and Alpine for the support,” she said after the event. “Well done to Doriane too. You’ve driven mega all weekend.
“I’m looking forward to continuing our battles in Miami.”
Puling finished fifth in the drivers’ championship last year picking up two second placed finishes among a host of podium appearances.
She told the F1 Academy website she was trying to be more relaxed about the new season.
“It feels a lot calmer.
“I’ve put a big focus on taking the weight off my own shoulders, putting less pressure on myself, and going into this year feeling weightless – no expectation, just drive.
“Get on with it, do the job and be consistent. I think that’s the expectation as opposed to ‘oh I want to win; I want to do that’. Just be consistent and I think that’s what wins titles at the end of the day.
“My motivation is enjoying myself! I think that’s a really important thing and when I’m enjoying myself and having fun, I drive my best. Obviously, I want to get results but it’s about how you go about getting them.”
