Abbi Pulling has opened up a 71-point advantage at the top of the F1 Academy standings

A series of consistent performances has helped Abbi Pulling extend her advantage at the top of the F1 Academy standings.

The Gosberton driver continued her run of finishing on the podium at every race this F1 Academy season after a dominant display in Zandvoort over the weekend.

The performances of the former Bourne Academy pupil increased her championship lead to 71 points over Mercedes junior driver Doriane Pin.

The race weekend had started well for the 21-year-old as she topped both practice sessions which suggested Pulling was in for another strong qualifying.

Throughout the rain-affected qualifying session, Pulling was consistently fastest however she came under pressure from Pin in the closing stages who was eating away at her advantage.

Pulling's problems worsened when the red flag was flown following a crash involving Bianca Bustamante as, when the session resumed, the Alpine Academy driver was off the pace and lost the race two pole to Pin.

Despite this, Pulling was set to start race one on pole on Saturday afternoon however the Dutch weather had other ideas and the event was abandoned due to the rain.

The race was run on Sunday morning where Pulling had a sublime start and took a commanding lights-to-flag victory with a 3.875 second lead.

After this race, Pulling said, "I was so glad they managed to fit in the race after the conditions the previous day and it was a dream race.

"I knew that we were fast in the dry and I was the one to beat so I just controlled the race as the car is just perfect every time I go out."

However, race two was less easy for Pulling as she had a poor start from second and then lost a place to Ferrari junior driver Maya Weug who she failed to pass in the opening laps.

Throughout the race, she was two to three-tenths of a second behind Weug but struggled to make an impact on the Ferrari in front and had to settle for third - her eighth podium of the season, one in every race.

Pulling commented: "We had the potential to win in race two but unfortunately a mistake on my part hurt us.

"Normally I would be disappointed with the result, and of course it is frustrating knowing the potential result we could have had, but at the end of the day consistency is what wins championships and, if a bad day ends in a podium, it is still a pretty good day."

This consistency will stand Pulling in good stead for the next F1 Academy race in Singapore on September 20-22.

She added: "We have continued to extend our lead in the standings which is the wider goal and I am looking forward to getting back out in Singapore.

"I love street circuits and, although Jeddah and Miami were incredible, they are both purpose-built, so Singapore will be the first actual street circuit we have faced this year and I can’t wait."

Pulling's F1 Academy commitments forced her to miss the latest round of the Formula 4 Championship at Donington Park over the weekend, however, she still remains in seventh place in the 29-driver standings.