During the weekend’s Feature Race 1 in Baku, Alexander Dunne took the win ahead of Martinius Stenshorne. Dino Beganovic completed the podium as Nikola Tsolov didn’t finish the race, meaning a swing in the championship fight. Still, Formula 2 races again tomorrow in Feature Race 2.
Dunne leads into Turn 1
During the reconnaissance lap, Sebastián Montoya crashed into the wall and couldn’t take further part in the race. At the start, Alexander Dunne had a strong launch to defend the lead, and behind him was his teammate Martinius Stenshorne.
Rafael Câmara was running in P4, ahead of the championship leader, Nikola Tsolov, down in P8. Dunne pulled a 1-second gap on lap 2 as Noel León closed on Stenshorne. Further back, Dino Beganovic made a move on Kush Maini and moved up to P6.
In the middle of the field, Roman Bilinski and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak fought for P11. Meanwhile, Tsolov in P8 started putting pressure on Maini, keeping himself in the DRS zone. On lap 7, Tsolov, Laurens van Hoepen, and several drivers pitted.
Benefiting from the Safety Car
On lap 8, Mari Boya suddenly stopped on the racetrack as one of the tyres was not fitted properly. The incident triggered a safety car, and that gave an opportunity to the leading pack of Dunne, Câmara and the DAMS Lucas Oil drivers, who had to pit.
After the front of the pack pitted, Tsolov was noted for a pit lane infringement. On lap 11, the Feature race restarted with Oliver Goethe leading the pack and Dunne behind, after pitting. At the same time, Kush Maini got a 5-second penalty.
On the restart, Beganovic won P4 to Câmara, who dropped to P6. At the back, an incident involving Joshua Dürksen, Tsolov and several drivers triggered a red flag. The Feature race was restarted and changed into a 20-minute session.
Beganovic had a good restart as Câmara kept falling down the order into P7. At the front, Goethe defended the lead, and Dunne kept his position in second. With 10 minutes remaining, Dunne overtook Goethe and retook the lead of the Feature race.
With 6 minutes remaining, Beganovic, Stenshorne and León chased down Goethe for P2. After the MP Motorsport driver locked up, he pitted. Ultimately, Dunne took the win after an extended Feature Race 1, ahead of Stenshorne and Beganovic.
