MONACO – Barbadian Zane Maloney clinched his second podium of the Formula Two season when he finished third in Monaco Grand Prix here Sunday.
Barbadian F2 driver Zane Maloney in Monaco.Starting from third on the grid, the 19-year-old Rodin Carlin driver produced a solid effort to follow home winner Frederik Vesti of Prema Racing, with ART Grand Prix’s Theo Pourchaire claiming second place.
Vesti, a 21-year-old Dane, led from pole to finish two seconds clear of Frenchman Pourchaire, Maloney ending a further 13 seconds behind.
Afterwards, Maloney said he was “very happy with the result, of course, not satisfied with the pace.”
“Sprint Race, started P6, finished P5 so not much else I could have done really. [It’s] so difficult to follow and overtake here in Monaco,” he said.
“We tried some stuff with the set-up today, struggled a bit for pace, had to keep the tyres alive, had a lot of deg (degradation), especially in the front.
“It was a difficult day but to come away with a podium on a difficult day is a very good result.”
He continued: “Brought it home where we could and I’m really looking forward to continuing the progress in Barcelona.
“The team are doing a great job and really helping me out so hopefully we can continue this progress and for the rest of the year. I know all the tracks well, no more street circuits so we can get in a bit of a flow and hopefully more great results to come.”
The top three led into Turn One and even though Pourchaire subsequently lost his place to Australian Jack Doohan, he reclaimed it quickly.
Doohan crashed out on lap 22 in a fiery incident which nearly took Maloney out. Travelling in fourth, the 20-year-old Virtuosi Racing driver spun out at Turn Three and hit the wall with the car bursting into flames.
Maloney, following behind, narrowly avoided crashing into the wreckage.
He now lies sixth in the drivers standings on 48 points, 41 behind leader Vesti with Pourchaire lying second on 84 points.
