Photo: Red Bull

Pepe Marti feels his decision making in “complete mayhem” was key to his charge from 11th to win the Bahrain Formula 2 sprint race.

The Campos Racing driver rose from sixth following a safety car restart with five laps to go, taking the lead from Joshua Duerksen at the start of the last tour, with Richard Verschoor following him past to finish second.

“I had so many close calls,” Marti told media including Formula Scout afterwards. “I hit poor Richard in T6 a bit with I think four laps to go or something.

“It was a crazy race from start to end, and I think we managed it pretty well. I was just taking my chances, and in the last few laps, honestly, it was a lottery, like there was not much I could do. I was just going into the corner and saying, ‘OK, there’s two guys on the inside. I’m going to try to get a switchback’. And it could have worked, it could have not worked. Today went my way.

“I think on restarts, especially at a track like this, where overtaking is quite easy, you’re looking around 360 degrees. Into the first corner on the restart, I think it was Richard and [Alex] Dunne, or someone going quite deep, and I thought I had margin to cut back, and I got hit by Roman [Stanek] entering Turn 1 so I was full opposite lock, trying not to spin.

“It was complete mayhem. But I think I made the right choices, and I think that’s something that I’ve always been quite good at, driving through the field, making the right decisions in wheel-to-wheel racing.”

Second allowed Verschoor to take the points lead after Duerksen was disqualified from third for a technical infringement.

“I sent it a bit on Dino [Beganovic] and then Pepe got past, and then he got past Joshua, and then it was a bit of a mess,” the MP Motorsport driver said. “I wanted to go for the move in T10, but [Duerksen] blocked me off. Then I went outside and switched back and then he out-braked himself a bit into T11, then I had the nice switchback and kept my foot in around the outside of T12.”

While drivers were frantically fighting for position, they also had to consider tyre management on the abrasive Sakhir surface.

“When you’re fighting, you’re taking a lot more out of the tyres,” Marti said. “When I got past Dunne, I started managing quite well, but I managed too much, and he was able to send it on me. So from then on, I was between Luke [Browning] and Alex, trying to more or less save, not save. I was quite jealous of Richard because he was just at the back of the DRS [train] waiting, saving his tyres.

“But I think it depends on what the situation is in the race, because after the first safety car, I was most concerned about my tyres, and after the second safety car, I think I followed Richard’s pace for two laps, more or less saving a bit the tyres and then the last four laps was full gas and hope for the best.”

Verschoor added: “Every fight you do, extra change of direction, pushing more on traction, it’s hurting the tyres a bit. You can cool them down a bit as well afterwards, but you can just feel when you start to push more that you lose the grip.

“It’s a bit of a thin line of how much you can push, but it makes it as exciting as it was today.”

Additional reporting by Alejandro Alonso Lopez

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Freddie Slater enjoyed a “mega start” to his FIA Formula 3 career, leading and eventually finishing second in the sprint race in Bahrain, which he feels he could have won.

The Briton filled AIX Racing’s vacant seat for last month’s in-season test and was retained for the second round of the championship. Having been 10th fastest in Friday’s qualifying session, he started his maiden race from third on the reversed grid.

“It was great fun out there,” he told media including Formula Scout after the race. “Leading for a little bit, then got into second and tried to reset everything so I could have another chance. But unfortunately a few safety cars affected that.”

Slater overtook Martinius Stenshorne around the outside of turn four on lap one, and went on to claim the lead from Joshua Dufek on lap three. He then held on to first until lap 11 of 19, when he was passed by Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov.

F3 veteran Tsolov had to fight hard to drive past the debutant and keep him behind until the finish, with Slater believing he could have got back past if it weren’t for a late safety car.

“We had to get on with it at the start. I basically knew what I had to do. I needed to get into the lead as soon as possible, and that was the goal. And then I tried to manage for as long as possible,” he explained. 

“Then Nikola came up behind. He was a little bit faster maybe in that phase where I was managing, and then he got in front and we were managing more. And then we started to pick the pace up as I saw Nikola was starting to struggle. 

“If it wasn’t such an interfered race, I think it would have been a different race in terms of strategy, the way I played it. But, you know, on those first two laps you can’t mess about, you’ve got to get on with it. So I had to attack and then manage from there.

“I had full focus ahead,” he said, referring to the safety car restart with two laps to go. “As I was coming up to where the safety car turns the lights off, I knew this was my opportunity, and I needed a good restart. And I actually got a really good jump. So just the tow wasn’t quite big enough today. It wasn’t a headwind. It was unfortunately a tailwind down the main straight. So I think if there was a bit of a headwind, I would have been able to have a bit more of a race into T1. 

“I knew the moment I was going for and I had to try and execute, but it just didn’t quite happen,” he said.

“The track was super dirty, super hot,” said Slater, describing it as the “worst” conditions for drivers. “But we managed it well and had a good battle out there. A really enjoyable experience.”

Slater’s sprint race gap to Tsolov

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Photo: Red Bull

Pepe Marti stormed through from 11th on the grid to win the Formula 2 sprint race in Bahrain.

A late safety car and significant tyre wear led to last-gasp battles for position at the front of the field. Marti claimed the race lead on the final lap and broke away from the front group slightly to finish 0.922 seconds clear of Richard Verschoor.

Marti got a storming start from the sixth row, avoiding the opening lap drama to move up to sixth place by the end of lap one. The safety car was brought out for an incident between Sebastian Montoya and Amaury Cordeel that left Montoya facing the wrong direction. Some side-by-side action with Alex Dunne going into the first corner sent Victor Martins through the grass and polystyrene boards, but he was able to continue after a pit stop for a new front wing.

On the restart, Marti was battling with Dunne. He managed to take fifth, but went off track as he made the move. Dunne came back through and Luke Browning joined them to make it a three-car fight for position.

On lap 14, Max Esterson had run into trouble and came to a stop on track, prompting another safety car.

By this point, tyre wear was becoming a significant issue for most of the field.

Joshua Duerksen, who had held the lead off of reversed-grid pole, had slipped back to second behind Dino Beganovic. However, Beganovic seemed to be using his tyres more heavily and risked trouble in the closing laps.

Many drivers outside the points decided to gamble for fresh tyres during the safety car period, while those at the front stayed on the used rubber.

The safety car reduced Beganovic’s lead to nothing and put Marti on the tail of the leaders.

Racing resumed on lap 19 and the leaders wasted no time before battling for position. Duerksen retook the lead from Beganovic while Marti was part of a line of drivers running four-wide behind them. Vershoor won the four-car fight to take third but had Marti close behind him. 

Verschoor was able to get alongside Beganovic, but as he did so Marti found a way past both to move into second place.

As they started the final lap, Marti was right behind Duerksen. The positions didn’t hold for long, as Marti swept past to take the race lead. Duerksen tried to fight back but then found himself under pressure from Verschoor, who pipped him for second.

Beganovic dropped back to fourth by the chequered flag, ahead of the hard charging Oliver Goethe.

Goethe was one of seven drivers to pit for fresh rubber during the final safety car. He stormed up through the order from outside the top 10 to finish just 1.9s behind the race winner. 

Arvid Lindblad took sixth ahead of Rafael Villagomez and Gabriele Mini, the next best driver who stopped for tyres.

After fighting at the front early on both Dunne and Browning slipped back in the final stages of the race. A mistake for Dunne on the final lap dropped him further down the order, while Browning was shuffled back to 11th in the last lap fight with Leonardo Fornaroli and Ritomo Miyata, who finished ninth and 10th respectively.

Race results (23 laps)

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Luke Browning was delighted to qualify third for the Formula 2 round in Bahrain after driving for Williams in Formula 1 practice earlier in the day.

Browning was the fastest of six practice-only drivers called up to take part in Friday morning’s first session, going 13th fastest.

He was just ahead of his F2 team-mate Dino Beganovic, who was driving for Ferrari, with the Hitech GP pair the only ones performing double duty across the two series.

While Beganovic went on to qualify ninth, Browning came third and was quick to praise his team over the radio, hailing the “great learning from the test” in Sakhir last month.

“The adaptation was tough, hopping out of an F1 car straight into F2 is not easy,” Browning told media including Formula Scout afterwards.

“But yeah, I think we made the most of it today. And I think the other guys on the couch could probably vouch, it wasn’t easy today. Track conditions are a second and a half slower than expected. So I think it was very easy to make a mistake.

“I think my main goal was just to hit every apex, and, and we did that. So very happy with my lap today. And I think why I probably I was so excited over the radio is, I didn’t exactly expect to be here from testing. So, yeah, happy.”

Browning placed 16th of the 22 drivers on both one-lap and long-run pace in Formula Scout’s analysis of the in-season test, although he has more confidence in his race performance.

“Honestly, if you told me P3 at the start of the day, I’d have snapped your hand off. So we’re in a good place and our race pace looked good in the test, so let’s see.”

He added: “Depending on how you work the team, optimise it, get the most out of it – that’s what I’m so proud about with Hitech, is where we’ve come from, from the test with my limited experience. We were not in a good place and to come and qualify in the top three here after the FP1 performance, the adaptation is just amazing. Very happy.”

Pressed further on the steps made from the test, Browning said “not making a mistake when it really matters” was key: “And I think that’s what qualifying was all about today, and that’s exactly what we wanted to improve on. Coming from the test into this, just being faultless, pushing, and that’s what we’re really good at, is just pushing each other.

“We went from a 2023, a mid season, coming from British Formula 3, having never driven any of the circuits before, I qualified P16 here in Bahrain. And at the end of the year I won Macau.

“So it’s the progression is exactly what I’m good at, and that’s exactly what I’m going to continue to try and work on through the testing, in every session I have and in every opportunity with Hitech.”

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Photo: Red Bull

Nikola Tsolov prevailed in a thrilling scrap with Freddie Slater to take a record-equalling fourth FIA Formula 3 victory in Saturday’s sprint race at Sakhir.

Campos Racing’s Tsolov climbed from fifth and resisted a late safety car restart to win by 0.580 seconds ahead of AIX Racing’s Slater, who scored a podium on debut. ART Grand Prix’s Tuukka Taponen also scored a maiden podium in third.

There was drama as soon as the lights went out, with Trident’s points leader Rafael Camara stalling from 12th on the grid and plummeting to last.

Hitech GP’s Joshua Dufek converted reversed-grid pole into the lead ahead of team-mate Martinius Stenshorne and Slater. The trio went side-by-side on the run to turn four, with Slater wrestling second away from Stenshorne through the next two corners.

Slater snatched the lead from Dufek at the start of lap three, while Tsolov took third away from Stenshorne, and the safety car was deployed on the following lap after Ugo Ugochuwku retired following a collision with his Prema stablemate and fellow McLaren Formula 1 junior Brando Badoer.

The race resumed on lap seven and Slater continued to lead, while Tsolov made a good restart to sweep past Dufek into second.

Tsolov briefly took the lead into turn one on lap nine, but Slater made the better exit to immediately reclaim the advantage, while behind them Stenshorne and Taponen fought their was past Dufek.

The lead battle continued on the next lap, with Tsolov moving ahead twice into turns four and eight, only for Slater to fight back each time.

Tsolov finally made a move stick into turn one on lap 11, and he held a slender lead over Slater when the safety car was deployed again five laps later after Dufek clashed with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Ivan Domingues at the first corner.

The safety car was withdrawn as the cars began their penultimate lap, and Tsolov was forced to defend several times from Slater, while Taponen took third away from Stenshorne before closing in on the lead duo.

Slater resisted the pressure from Taponen to reignite his challenge to Tsolov but, despite lining up a challenge at the final corner of the race, had to settle for second.

Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin climbed from 11th on the grid to make a late pass on Stenshorne for fourth, with Tim Tramnitz recovering from 13th to finish sixth ahead of MP Motorsport team-mate Alessandro Giusti.

DAMS driver Christian Ho was eighth ahead of Trident duo Charlie Wurz and Noah Stromsted.  Camara recovered to 12th behind Prema’s Noel Leon and continues to head the standings ahead of Sunday’s feature, which he still start from pole.

VAR duo Santiago Ramos and Theophile Nael, DAMS’s Niko Lacorte and AIX’s Nicola Marinangeli all retired with damage during the race.

Race results (19 laps)

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Rafael Camara continued his commanding form in FIA Formula 3 as he took a second successive pole position in Bahrain.

The Trident-run Ferrari junior had followed his Melbourne pole and feature race victory by topping last month’s in-season test at Sakhir and Friday morning’s practice session, but wasn’t among the top 10 after the first runs at the start of qualifying.

It was instead Nikola Tsolov fastest at that early stage ahead of Christian Ho, James Wharton and Alessandro Giusti.

Giusti took over top spot with his second run in the middle third of the session, only for Callum Voisin to go faster still. Camara slotted into third place with Tsolov now fourth.

The entire field returned to the pits once more before emerging for a third and final run, when Voisin and Camara traded fastest sectors in the first two parts of the lap.

It was Camara who claimed pole though, going more than half a second quicker than the previous benchmark, with Rodin Motorsport’s Voisin having to settle for second, 0.156s away.

Camara’s team-mate Charlie Wurz lapped four tenths slower to go third, before his time was matched by DAMS driver Ho.

Bruno del Pino finished a surprise fifth for MP Motorsport having gone fastest of all when he crossed the line with his final lap.

His time would keep him ahead of Formula 1 juniors Tuukka Taponen, Noah Stromsted, Tsolov and team-mate Giusti. Freddie Slater rounded out the top 10 in his debut F3 qualifying session for AIX Racing.

Hitech’s Noah Stromsted and Joshua Dufek rounded out the top 12 and will share the front row of the reversed grid for Saturday’s sprint race.

Several drivers had laptimes deleted for exceeding track limits, including Wharton on his final attempt, which left him 24th.

Qualifying results

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Oliver Goethe went quickest in an MP Motorsport one-two in Formula 2 free practice in Bahrain.

The Red Bull junior driver set a time of 1m47.789s, more than five seconds slower than the best time achieved during testing in March. 

It was a slow start to the session, with only a handful of drivers setting times in the first third of practice. When drivers did head out, they opted for the harder compound of tyres.

Once lap times did start to be set, Goethe jumped to the top of the order with a 1m48.765s. He was quickly knocked off the top spot by Alex Dunne and Pepe Marti.

A late flurry of flying laps lowered the benchmark further. Goethe returned to the top of the standings, his time over half a second quicker than that set by Marti. The pair were separated by Goethe’s MP team-mate, Richard Verschoor, who was 0.222s slower than Goethe.

Victor Martins took fourth in his first official session in the colours of Williams ahead of Gabriele Mini, who had set the quickest time during in-season testing.

Jack Crawford was sixth, ahead of Dunne, Sami Meguetounif and Leonardo Fornaroli. Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10.

Free practice results

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Richard Verschoor set the fastest time on a relatively quiet final day of Formula 2 in-season testing in Bahrain.

Four drivers – Jak Crawford of DAMS, Trident’s Max Esterson, and the Rodin Motorsport duo of Alex Dunne and Amaury Cordeel – were blocked from participating in the final day of the test as part of the punishment for the illegal drilling their teams were found to have carried out on their cars to collect data during pre-season testing.

As on the previous days, teams generally dedicated the morning session to race runs. John Bennett set the fastest time, 0.271 seconds ahead of his Van Amersfoort Racing team-mate Rafael Villagomez, but his 1m47.228s lap was nearly five seconds adrift of the pace seen on Thursday evening. The AIX Racing pair of Cian Shields and Joshua Duerksen followed.

Duerksen went immediately quicker at the start of the afternoon session under floodlights, but was displaced from top spot by Hitech’s Dino Beganovic just prior to the half-hour mark.

After a brief red flag to retrieve the car of Oliver Goethe, Duerksen reclaimed first place as the half-way point approach when he went more than two seconds quicker than Beganovic.

He was still clear by that gap when Richard Verschoor knocked him off top spot just before the session entered its final half-hour with what would the MP Motorsport driver’s final lap of the test.

Verschoor’s 1m43.273s would end up as the best time of the final day, with relatively few other drivers attempting flying laps in the closing stages. Gabriele Mini’s time of 1m42.488s from Thursday evening was the fastest of the three-day test.

Sami Meguetounif took third for Trident, while Verschoor’s team-mate Goethe was able to return to the track late on and go fourth. Cian Shields in fifth was the last driver to lap within 2s of Verschoor’s time. The times of Bennett and Villagomez in the morning remained good enough for eighth and ninth overall across the final day.

Leonardo Fornaroli was the busiest driver of the day, completing 92 laps with his best almost five seconds off the pace.

Combined day three times

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Ferrari junior and FIA Formula 3 championship leader Rafael Camara sent a warning shot as he topped both sessions on the final day of the Bahrain in-season test, recording the fastest time of the week.

Freddie Slater, testing for AIX Racing, was the first to set a representative laptime after seven minutes, before Christian Ho of DAMS, the Rodin Motorsport trio of Callum Voisin, Roman Bilinski and Louis Sharp and then MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz all claimed top spot as they crossed the line on their first flying laps.

Tramnitz’s time of 1m48.583s was already the fastest of the test up that point, and he stayed on top until Wednesday’s pacesetter Nikola Tsolov narrowly edged ahead for Campos Racing just after the half-hour mark.

Trident driver Camara then lowered the benchmark by three tenths of a second, posting a 1m48.252s which would stand through the rest of the session as the best time.

Tramnitz improved his time to finish second, within 0.086 seconds of Camara. Tuukka Taponen continued his consistent frontrunning pace for ART Grand Prix this week by going third in front of Alessandro Giusti, Noah Stromsted and Nicola Lacorte.

For much of the afternoon session the focus appeared to be on race pace, with Laurens van Hoepen setting a 1m50.421s around midway through to edge ahead of the early pace set by Martinius Stenshorne.

It was not until eight minutes were left on the clock that Rodin’s Voisin and Sharp took the times into the 1m49s, separated by just 0.003s in the latter’s favour, but their efforts were quickly bettered by Camara who went 0.8s faster, recording a 1m48.673s.

Voisin would improve his effort with four minutes to go to finish the session in second, 0.69s down on Camara. Camara’s team-mate Charlie Wurz took fourth ahead of the third Rodin driver Bilinski.

Combined day three results

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Gabriele Mini beat Victor Martins to set a new best time on day two of the in-season Formula 2 test in Bahrain.

As was the case on the opening day, teams dedicated the morning session to race runs. Richard Verschoor set the best time just inside the final hour of the session, 0.174 seconds ahead of his MP Motorsport team-mate Oliver Goethe and 1.5s ahead of third-placed Joshua Duerksen, but his 1m46.475s was almost four seconds adrift of the pace set the previous evening.

The ART Grand Prix duo of Victor Martins and Ritomo Miyata had the busiest mornings, recording 49 laps apiece and clocking the fifth and sixth best times respectively at the end, just behind Van Amersfoort Racing’s John Bennett.

The pace was immediately higher in the afternoon, set initially by Leonardo Fornaroli and then Joshua Duerksen.

Fornaroli took top spot back from Jak Crawford after 70 minutes, and although Pepe Marti lowered the pace into the 1m42s inside the final hour, the Invicta Racing driver went quicker still a few minutes later.

Compatriot and former Formula 3 rival Mini then went 0.34s clear of the field with just over half an hour to go, setting a 1m32.488s.

Roman Stanek soon took second and Martins third, but it was Martins who would get closest to Mini in the end, taking second with eight minutes left on the clock but falling 0.095s short of the best time.

Combined day two results

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