Roy Nissany to Miss Formula 2’s Trip to Italy After Picking Up Race Ban at Zandvoort

Roy Nissany has become the third driver this season to be forced to sit out of a FIA Formula 2 race weekend due to penalty points on his licence after exceeding the maximum twelve allowed during the Feature race in the Netherlands on Sunday.

DAMS driver Nissany was given a ten-second time penalty during the race at the Circuit Zandvoort for contact with Van Amersfoort Racing’s David Beckmann as the two jostled for position behind Marino Sato as the safety car was deployed following an opening lap crash by Logan Sargeant.

The incident also gave Nissany two penalty points, meaning his total for the 2022 season now tallies at thirteen, putting him over the allowable limit and implementing the race ban.

“Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that Car 16 (Nissany) and Car 24 (Beckmann) were driving side by side behind Car 4 (Sato),” read the statement from the FIA.

“Car 16 had decided that he was in front of Car 24 when the Safety Car was deployed so he pushed to stay in front.  

“The Stewards remind the Driver that it is not up to him to re-establish the right order behind a Safety Car and it is dangerous to drive side by side whilst the Safety Car is deployed.” 

Amaury Cordeel was the first driver to be banned in 2022, the Belgian missing the Silverstone round as a result, while Olli Caldwell was the second driver to face the same sanction, the Briton missing the previous round at Spa-Francorchamps as a result.

Beckmann was also handed a ten-second time penalty for his part in the incident, which involved the Van Amersfoort Racing driver clipping the back of Sato’s Virtuosi Racing machine.

The penalty relegated the German racer from eighth in the final standings, promoting Caldwell to that position while also moving Théo Pourchaire to ninth and Jehan Daruvala into the final points-paying position in tenth.

In other investigations following the Feature race on Sunday, no action was deemed necessary for the way Liam Lawson conducted the restart that saw a number of cars crash out, while Richard Verschoor also escaped any penalty for his part in the restart that saw him turn Jack Doohan around and into the wall.