Pepe Marti snatched this second Formula 2 victory in a thrilling conclusion to Formula 2’s sprint race at Sakhir
The Campos Racing driver gained three places in the final two laps following a late safety car to claim a dramatic win, while AIX Racing’s long-time race leader Joshua Duerksen was pipped to second by Van Amersfoort Racing’s Richard Verschoor.
Duerksen began the race from reversed-grid pole, which he converted into an early lead ahead of fellow front-row starter Dino Beganovic and VAR’s Rafael Villagomez. ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins, meanwhile, was squeezed off the road at the cars headed towards turn one for the first time, and lost his front-wing after smashing through a brake-marker board.
The safety car was deployed at the start of lap two due to Prema’s Sebastian Montoya retiring following a collision with Rodin Motorsport’s Amaury Cordeel, who was later handed a time penalty for causing the incident.
Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne tried to snatch fourth from Verschoor when the race restarted on lap five, but then came under pressure from Marti, who had made up five places before the safety car intervention. Marti then passed Dunne on the approach to turn four on the following lap with all four wheels off the track, but Dunne soon reclaimed the position with a move into turn one.
At the front, Duerksen pulled out a one-second lead only to be reeled back in by Hitech GP’s Beganovic, who then grabbed the lead into turn one approaching the halfway stage. Villagomez lost touch with the front two and was displaced from third by Verschoor, and then lost a further place to Dunne who made a bold lunge from a long way back into the first corner.
The safety was deployed for a second time on lap 16 after Trident’s Max Esterson stopped at the side of the circuit, resulting in Beganovic’s 1.5s lead being eroded and a number of drivers running outside of the top-10 taking the opportunity to pit for fresh tyres.
Duerksen reclaimed first at the restart with five laps to go, while Dunne dived inside Verschoor for third but contact resulted in the McLaren F1 junior losing places. Dunne was then involved in further contact with Hitech’s Luke Browning as he tried to recover ground, though both drivers avoided damage.
Having capitalised on the squabbles to move up to fourth, Marti then pounced on a battle between Beganovic and Verschoor on the penultimate lap to sweep past the pair into second.
Marti quickly moved onto the tail of Duerksen before the lap was completed, and then made his race-winning move on the final tour. Verschoor took second from Duerksen a few corners from home, while Beganovic slipped to fourth.
MP Motorsport’s OIiver Goethe was one of those to pit during the late safety car and used his fresh tyres to surge up the order and finish fifth during a frenetic battle in the closing stages. Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad and Villagomez held on with older tyres to score points in sixth and seventh, Lindblad having recovered from 16th on the grid. Prema’s Gabriele Mini took the final point in eighth ahead of Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli and ART’s Ritomo Miyata, the trio having all pitted late on.
Browning was swamped in the closing stages by those on fresh tyres and slipped to 11th, while Dunne tumbled to 19th after rear-ending another car and losing his front-wing.
Featured image credit: Formula 2 on X
