Owen McGaugie returned to GPVWC action with a dominant performance in Indianapolis, taking both race victories in Formula Sprint 2's sixth round of the season. However, it proved to be controversial in the community.
McGaugie, a former Superlights champion and proven Superleague race winner, was a surprise entry in FS2, a category widely seen as a proving ground for up-and-coming talent. Though his participation falls within the current rulebook, it drew immediate criticism for skewing the competitive balance. He underlined those concerns in emphatic style, claiming pole position and leading every lap of Race 1 before carving through the field from 13th to first in Race 2.
Behind him, RGS Racing's pairing of Kaspar Koorits and Brody Lawless were best of the rest in the opening race, with Koorits getting the better of his teammate in a close fight for second. The pair didn't repeat this in Race 2, where Lawless recovered well from 11th to finish fourth, while Koorits' day ended early with a retirement. This was Lawless' final round for RGS, after they agreed to part ways following the event.
Ben Skinner and Victor Bernat impressed across both races. Skinner held steady in Race 1 to finish 11th, then made a strong push in Race 2 to take second. Bernat, meanwhile, moved forward consistently, scoring 12th and 3rd in the two races having only qualified 16th for the GPVWC Academy team. He'll be hoping to pick up a full-time drive.
Filip Czerwinski continued his steady climb in the standings with a fifth and sixth place, while Thijs Jongstra (P8 and P5) added two more top-ten finishes for Team RNG. Further back, Alfie Denley, Johannes Leppitt, and Joe Gillett each took points in both races, with Gillett again delivering quietly efficient results for HBS.
It was a tougher day for some of the usual frontrunners. Junio Lopes dropped from third on the grid to seventh in Race 1, and again lost ground in Race 2, finishing ninth. If he is to put a strong championship challenge together he will need to stay out of trouble on a more regular basis moving forwards.
With McGaugie's performance dominating the headlines, the competitiveness of FS2 was a major talking point post-race. While the results will stand, as there's nothing in the rulebook preventing Owen from doing what he did, there were accusations of "smurfing" and that there should be a regulation put in place to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future. However, McGaugie's outing was a one-off, in place of the absent Sandeep Singh. While he dominated this one, the championship battle, however, remains tight among the regular contenders, and as the series moves to its next stop, the spotlight will return to the names that have been fighting all season.
