Joseph Pepe Marti took win in wild sprint FIA F2 race in Bahrain, as Nikola Tsolov took the top spot in F3.
F2 –
Pole-sitter Duerksen got the start he needed to retain the lead, but Victor Martins was squeezed on the approach to Turn 1. He was off the road into the polystyrene boards, leaving him with front wing damage and at the back. Sebastián Montoya’s race was also over early as he was pointed the wrong way and out of the running on the opening tour. That brought out the Safety Car as his PREMA Racing car was recovered and Turn 1 was cleared up.
The Safety Car was back in at the end of Lap 4, and Duerksen retained the lead ahead of Beganovic and Rafael Villagómez. Verschoor had closed to within DRS range of Villagómez ahead and with a switchback out of Turn 4, seized third position on Lap 10. Up ahead, the leading pair of Duerksen and Beganovic were three seconds clear of the pack, but the Swede was sticking with the race leader closely. Onto Lap 11 and with DRS up the hill to Turn 4, Beganovic moved to the inside and claimed the race lead.
As many settled into tyre preservation mode, Dunne was on the move again with a dive at Turn 1, passing Villagómez for fourth on Lap 13. The Safety Car was back out on Lap 16 after Max Esterson came to a stop in his TRIDENT. It brought several drivers into the pit lane for a stop, with Gabriele Minì the highest-placed driver to pit from 10th for Hard Pirelli tyres, leaving him 14th for the restart.
Back to racing conditions entering Lap 19, Beganovic ran slightly wide at the final corner, inviting pressure from Duerksen behind. The Paraguayan re-took top spot at Turn 1 while behind them, a four-car scrap for third went the way of Verschoor, but Martí was able to pass Dunne for fourth a few corners later.
The Rodin driver made slight contact with Browning and fell behind the Hitech TGR driver on Lap 20. An attempt to re-pass Browning at the first opportunity into Turn 8 opened the door for Arvid Lindblad to take seventh from the Irishman on corner exit. Up front, Duerksen was forced to defend the lead entering the final three laps as Beganovic remained within DRS range. Their squabbling allowed Verschoor and Martí to gain and join the lead battle.
Lap 22 of 23 and Beganovic drew alongside Duerksen, but he couldn’t make the pass stick at Turn 4. That gave Verschoor the chance to take second, but Martí got the switchback on both of them out of Turn 8 to seize second for himself. Onto the final tour and Martí’s charge continued and with DRS, he claimed the lead into Turn 1. The AIX driver couldn’t fight back and had to defend from Verschoor, but his running wide at Turn 11 allowed the MP driver to gain second just a handful of corners from the finish.
Martí earned his first win of the year in some style, ahead of Verschoor and Duerksen, with Beganovic holding onto fourth. Oliver Goethe fitted the Soft tyres under the second Safety Car and charged through from P15 to fifth in the closing laps. Lindblad, Villagómez and Minì completed the points in sixth, seventh and eighth places respectively.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1911083357993058308
UPDATE: After the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race in Sakhir, AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen has been disqualified while Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne has been penalised and handed two post-race penalties. Following the race, the Technical Delegate referred Car 20 to the Stewards after it was found Diffusor strake 1 was lower than the minimum specified height, breaching Article 3.4.1a of the F2 Technical Regulations.
Having considered the matter, the Stewards determined that the Diffusor Strake 1 was 2mm below the tolerance specified in Article 3.4.2, constituting a breach of the Technical Regulations, resulting in the disqualification of Car 20 from the Sprint Race. It promotes every driver up one position each in the classification, with Dino Beganovic of Hitech TGR taking the final podium place in third position.
Secondly, Rodin’s Dunne was called to the Stewards after an incident with Car 15 of Ritomo Miyata during the race. After hearing from both drivers and examining available video evidence, the Stewards determined that Dunne was the driver predominantly at fault for the incident and, as a result, elected to hand him a five-second time penalty.
The application of the penalty drops the Rodin driver from 18th to 19th in the Sprint Race classification, promoting AIX Racing’s Cian Shields up one position. Dunne has also been assigned another five-second time penalty for breaching the Safety Car delta requirements during Safety Car period 2. The Stewards examined evidence post-race and heard from both the driver and team representative. It was found that Car 17 was above the delta time, a breach of Article 40.7 of the FIA Formula 2 Sporting Regulations. The resulting penalty is the standard five-second time penalty for the offence.
F3 –
It was a terrific start for the pole-sitter Joshua Dufek who kept a hold of the lead, but AIX’s Slater got ahead of Martinius Stenshorne for P2 at Turn 4 after starting third. Behind them, Tsolov got ahead of Alessandro Giusti for P4, while Championship leader Rafael Câmara had a slow start from P12 and dropped to the back of the field. Onto Lap 2, and Slater closed in on Dufek before making a move for the lead at Turn 1.
Behind them, Tsolov continued his fine start, overtaking Stenshorne for third at the same corner. However, the Safety Car was called upon at the start of Lap 4. PREMA Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu stopped at Turn 2 after colliding with his teammate Brando Badoer, who pitted with a puncture. Racing resumed on Lap 7 and Tsolov was flying once more, diving to the inside of Dufek for P2 at Turn 1.
The battles intensified on Lap 9 as Tsolov again dived to the inside at Turn 1, this time on Slater for the race lead. However, the Campos driver went in too deep, allowing the Briton to retake the lead. Just behind the pair, the battle for P3 was heating up as Dufek, Stenshorne and Taponen almost went three-wide into Turn 4. The latter two eventually made their way past at Turn 10 and 11, with Giusti following them through a few corners later at Turn 1.
Further up the road, Slater and Tsolov were going wheel-to-wheel once more. The Bulgarian dived down the AIX driver at Turns 4 and 8, but on both occasions, the debutant retook the lead. However, Tsolov eventually made a move stick with the help of DRS and dived down the inside at Turn 1 again. Behind them, Taponen was now ahead of Stenshorne for P3.
At the start of Lap 13 of 19, the top three had begun to separate themselves out in front, while Stenshorne was coming under attack from Giusti and Callum Voisin for P4. Giusti then went side by side with Stenshorne into Turns 6 and 7, but the MP Motorsport driver had the door closed, putting him into the clutches of Voisin, who made a move past at Turn 11. On Lap 15 of 19, the Safety Car was called upon, with Dufek and Ivan Domingues colliding at Turn 1, causing both drivers to stop by the side of the road.
We returned to green flag conditions at the start of Lap 18, and Slater was right on the back of Tsolov, but the Campos driver resisted all his overtaking attempts. Onto the final lap, and Taponen looked to make a move on Slater into Turn 1 but could not make it stick. Tsolov though was able to pull away out in front and went on claim a record-equalling fourth victory in FIA Formula 3.
Slater held off Taponen to finish second, with Voisin in fourth ahead of Stenshorne. Tim Tramnitz overtook his teammate Giusti on the penultimate tour to take P6, while Christian Ho was eighth for Dams Lucas Oil. TRIDENT rounded out the top 10 as Charlie Wurz finished in ninth ahead of Noah Stromsted.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1911011737530253516
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the FIA Formula 3 Sprint Race in Sakhir, PREMA Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Ivan Domingues have been handed post-race penalties. Firstly, Ugochukwu has been assigned a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with his teammate Brando Badoer.
Following the race, the Stewards examined video evidence and during the hearing, Ugochukwu took full responsibility for the incident. As a result, the Stewards chose to impose the usual 10-second time penalty for this incident. But seeing as the driver was not classified, under this season’s penalty guidelines, this is converted into a five-place grid drop for the next race in which the driver competes.
Secondly, Domingues has also been given a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Hitech TGR driver Joshua Dufek. After the race, the Stewards examined video evidence and heard from both drivers and their team representatives. However, during the hearing Domingues took full responsibility for his role in the incident.
Therefore, the Stewards chose to assign the usual 10-second penalty for such an incident, but since Domingues was not classified, under this season’s penalty guidelines, his penalty was converted into a five-place grid drop that will be imposed at the next race in which he competes.
[The story is as per press release]
