India's Jehan Daruvala finished a creditable second in the sprint race of the Formula 2 championships here.
The 23-year-old, who started third, rocketed off the line to slot into second behind Marcus Armstrong, who took the lead after sprint race pole-sitter Logan Sargeant made a tardy getaway and dropped to fifth on Saturday.
Jehan kept the position through an early safety car and then a subsequent Virtual Safety Car period before unleashing his pace.
Jehan, backed by Red Bull Racing, cranked up the pressure on Armstrong, harrying him for the lead as he closed to within a second of the Kiwi racer.
But with overtaking proving to be tricky on the narrow Imola track, Jehan crossed the line 1.4 seconds behind the Hitech driver.
Prema team-mate Dennis Hauger was third, completing a double podium for the Italian team on home soil.
Jehan's second-place in Imola was his third podium from as many rounds this season and 10th overall in Formula 2. It also lifted him to third in the overall drivers' standings.
"Firstly, I got off the line better than the guys at the front but because I had to avoid Logan I lost some momentum and couldn't get Marcus. But after that the race wasn’t easy.
"I was trying to put him under a lot of pressure early on in the race but it was really hard to follow, especially in the middle sector," Jehan said after the race.
"I had DRS but I was never quite close enough to mount an attack. I tried to cool down and give it a go at the end but again when I got closer I really struggled to follow."
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(Published 24 April 2022, 10:02 IST)
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