On her home track, Maya Weug took her second win of the season, competitive all weekend, once more in the title fight.

Maya Weug was the star of the fifth round of the F1 Academy season, here in Zandvoort. The 21 year old Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy student won the main race of the weekend, leading all 17 laps from start to finish. Weug was on the pace from the start of the weekend, securing pole position and then was outstanding in Race 1 where she started eighth because of the inverted grid before fighting her way up third at the flag.

Game on. The points from a win and a third place take Maya’s total to 107, moving her back up to second in the standings, 20 off the leader Dorian Pin, who only picked up 17 points in the Netherlands. “I am very pleased with the job we did,” commented Weug. “It’s been a perfect weekend in which we got everything out of the car. It’s what I was hoping for going into the weekend and it’s great to see that the work we have done with the team and the SFDA paid off with great results. On top of that, it is of course very special to win at home, so I want to enjoy the moment before getting back to work tomorrow, in preparation for the remaining rounds. We have made up a lot of points in the standings and it’s also been a morale booster after the difficult weekend in Montreal. But there’s still a long way to go.”

Race-1. Weug started eighth as the first four rows of the grid are inverted for the first race. Aurelia Nobels was 17th, having spun off into the gravel in qualifying. They both got very good starts. Maya was up to sixth at the end of the opening lap, tacking on to the lead group before the Safety Car came out, before the race resumed on lap 4. Weug was not fifth and was pushing Dorian Pin hard, passing her with a great move three laps later. The best overtake was on lap 10, when Maya got alongside Ella Lloyd going into turn 1, the two fighting it out until Weug got the upper hand in turn 3. On the final lap, Maya closed right up to Lia Block, but she had no chance to pass before the chequered flag. Nobels also made up several places in the closing stages, just missing out on points with a ninth place finish.

Race-2. The fight was on for full points in this morning’s main race. When the lights went out, Weug maintained the lead from pole and by the end of the second lap she had a lead of a second and a half over Ella Lloyd, crucial as it meant her rival was out of slipstream range. Weug showed great pace, increasing her lead with every lap so that it was up to five seconds on lap 10. In the second part of the race, Maya managed her lead, securing the fastest race lap and crossing the line with a seven second advantage. Nobels started from the ninth row of the grid and was up to 16th come the end of the opening lap, but on lap 2, she had to run through the gravel on the outside of turn 1, when Nicole Havrda spun in front of her. That cost her seven seconds and she lost touch with the group ahead. The Brazilian then started to make up ground, with a good enough pace to close the gap and finish 14th.