AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen scored a maiden Formula 2 victory in the Baku sprint race, while Gabriel Bortoleto survived a late clash to edge closer to points leader Isack Hadjar
Having climbed from fourth on the grid to first, Duerksen remained ahead following a late safety car period to finish 3.4 seconds clear of DAMS driver Jack Crawford, while Mini prevailed in a photo finish with Victor Martins to finish third on his F2 debut for Prema.
Crawford was slow away from second at the start and slipped to fourth behind Duerksen, who squeezed up the inside into turn one, while Trident’s Christian Mansell made a good launch from reversed-grid pole to lead on his debut ahead of fellow FIA F3 graduate Mini.
Mansell edged away over the first four laps before fading into the clutches of Mini, who snatched the lead into turn one on lap seven. Duerksen also picked off the Australian for second one lap later before engaging in battle with Mini. A slight sideways moment from the Italian just past the halfway stage of the 21-lap contest allowed Duerksen to pounce and grab first place in turn one.
Initially it looked like Duerksen was on course for a comfortable win after quickly pulling out more than a four-second lead, but that advantage was eradicated when Rodin Motorsport’s Ritomo Miyata slid into the wall and brought out the safety car.
The race resumed with four laps remaining, with Duerksen maintaining the lead before pulling clear once more, while Mini ran wide into turn one and lost second to Crawford before holding off ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins by just 0.020s at the chequered flag.
Mansell was shuffled back to fifth before the safety car intervention by Crawford and Martins, and he was then involved in contact with Bortoleto following the restart as he tried to hold off the Brazilian into turn three. Despite the clash sending him into the wall, Bortoleto was able to continue and finish just ahead of fellow title contender and Hitech GP driver Paul Aron who climed from 12th on the grid to seventh.
Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli prevailed in an early battle with ART’s F2 debutant Luke Browning before snatching seventh late on from Mansell, who held on to a points finish in eighth.
Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini and Rodin’s title contender Zane Maloney ran fifth and sixth early on before slipping back to ninth and 10th respectively, the latter having swapped positions several times in the race’s first half with Martins before fading after brushing a wall and losing some bodywork.
Browning came home 11th, while Hadjar climbed from the back of the grid to 12th following a penalty for crashing and causing a red flag in qualifying and holds a reduced 5.5-point lead over Bortoleto heading into Sunday’s feature race.
Trident’s Richard Verschoor, who is due to start from pole in that contest, slipped out of the top-10 in the early stages of the sprint race and eventually finished 17th after making an early pitstop gamble for super soft tyres.
Featured image credit: Formula Motorsport Ltd
