Miami Race 1: Doriane Pin wins in Miami from sixth place; Race 2 canceled

MIAMI — PREMA Racing and Mercedes-backed driver Doriane Pin won the only F1 Academy race of the weekend at Miami International Autodrome after starting from sixth place in the reverse grid format on Saturday.

Alisha Palmowski finished second after trying to take the fight to Pin for the win. Chloe Chambers rounded out the podium in her home race after starting eighth.

“It’s pretty special — my first reverse grid win,” Pin told F1Academy.com. “I’m really happy, a good relief! I think we were smart today from Quali to Race 1. We avoided the cars at the start, and then the pace was good until the Safety Car.”

Chambers started on pole position for Race 2, with Palmowski and Pin starting in second and third, respectively.

Rain hit the track during the formation lap as Emma Felbermayr and Ella Lloyd spun out in the wet conditions. In addition, Lloyd had a race start infringement.

On the radio during the formation lap, Chloe Chong said she was unable to see the car ahead.

Nicole Havrda also spun out behind the Safety Car with wet-weather tires. Felbermayr spun out again as she saved her car carrying the Kick Sauber livery after aquaplaning.

The red flag came out after a handful of formation laps behind the Safety Car on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Florida. Race 2 was canceled due to the torrential wet-weather conditions.

Before Lights Out

Ava Dobson was the Wild Card driver for Round 3 in Miami. Dobson received backing from Morgan Stanley and raced the No. 90 car for Hitech TGR.

Dobson has experience in the Formula 4 US Championship, USF Juniors, USF2000 and is currently in her second year in the GB4 Championship, finishing in the points at Donington Park and Silverstone. The American was awarded a Parella Motorsports Holdings Powering Diversity Scholarship.

Chloe Chambers was fastest in a rainy qualifying session, with Alisha Palmowski and Doriane Pin rounding out the top three. With the top eight reverse grid set up for Race 1, Emma Felbermayr started on pole, with Rafaela Ferreira and Aurelia Nobels in second and third.

After Lights Out

Emma Felbermayr was able to get a great start, as Rafaela Ferreira and Ella Lloyd locked up in Turn 1. With Ferreira’s lock-up, Lloyd was unable to move away, making contact with the back of Ferreira’s Campos Racing car. This incident ended Lloyd’s race early.

Doriane Pin tried to overtake for first, but the Safety Car saved Felbermayr. The Safety Car period ended on Lap 2 with Felbermayr getting a good getaway from Pin.

On Lap 3, Pin took the lead from Felbermayr, but the Austrian answered back by retaking the lead from the championship contender.

Alisha Palmowski got close to Chloe Chambers in an attempt to get fourth place, but the American held on to fourth in her home race. Palmowski went on the outside of Chambers in Turn 11, as Palmowski was able to overtake her teammate for fourth place.

Pin tried to take Felbermayr from the outside as the Kick Sauber-supported driver locked up, but was able to continue the battle with the French driver. Felbermayr had to concede the battle to avoid a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Aurelia Nobels and Palmowski took advantage of the battle for the lead, taking second place from Felbermayr, who fell to fourth place and entered a battle with Chambers and Maya Weug. Chambers won the battle for fourth, as Weug took advantage of Felbermayr’s damage to take fifth place.

Palmowski tried to get around Nobels and was able to take second place around the Beach section of the Miami circuit.

Pin was able to get a lead out front, with a one-second gap between her and Palmowski. Soon, Joanne Ciconte made contact with Chloe Chong.

This led to the second Safety Car as Ciconte ended her race early, with damage to the left rear of the car. Chong was able to make it back to the pits but was not able to finish the race, due to steering issues after the contact.

During the Safety Car, Felbermayr was called to the pits due to the damage she sustained earlier. The Rodin Motorsport driver was able to get back on track in 15th place.

The Safety Car ended on Lap 9 as Pin got a great jump on the restart against Palmowski. Chambers tried to go around the outside of Nobels and took third place from the Brazilian.

Weug tried to get past Nobels as she went around the inside at the Beach section to take fourth place. Lia Block gained a spot on Nina Gademan as well to get sixth place.

Block also got around Nobels for fifth, but later fell to 10th place after receiving a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

On the last lap, Palmowski tried to catch Pin and closed the gap before the checkered flag.

Pin won Race 1 in Miami and earned the fastest lap of the race. Palmowski settled for second place as Chambers rounded out the podium.

After only running one race in Miami, F1 Academy will return to action on June 14-15 for another scheduled doubleheader weekend in Montreal at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Race 1 Results

1. Doriane Pin
2. Alisha Palmowski
3. Chloe Chambers
4. Maya Weug
5. Nina Gademan
6. Aurelia Nobels
7. Tina Hausmann
8. Rafaela Ferreira
9. Courtney Crone
10. Lia Block
11. Alba Larsen
12. Nicole Havrda
13. Ava Dobson
14. Aiva Anagnostiadis
15. Emma Felbermayr
16. Chloe Chong
17. Joanne Ciconte
18. Ella Lloyd