Sakhir Flashback: How Zane Maloney and Rodin Motorsport dominated in 2024

At the start of the 2024 season, Formula 2 introduced a brand-new car to the paddock, and with that came a lot of intrigue, especially around who would get to grips with the new machinery early on.

After three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain, some patterns had emerged. One of them being Zane Maloney and Rodin Motorsport’s pace.

The Bajan driver was fastest on both Days 2 and 3 and was even second on a rain-affected Day 1. But we had to wait until Round 1, at the same venue, to see the true potential of each team.

Two weeks later, the paddock reconvened in Sakhir, and Maloney and Rodin sealed a historic double, winning both the Sprint and Feature Races.

So, as we get set to return for another competitive weekend in Bahrain, let us revisit that special weekend in 2024…

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FREE PRACTICE

Maloney made a solid start to the weekend, his first push lap of a 1:45.588 put him on top by 0.261s to Campos Racing’s Josep María Martí.

His teammate, Ritomo Miyata, later went up to second, 0.092s off Maloney, showing the pace Rodin had early on.

As we approached the final 10 minutes of the session, Isack Hadjar, in the other Campos, lowered the time to beat. A 1:45.399 put him in front by 0.189s ahead of Maloney, who was in the pits.

Hadjar then improved further to a 1:45.099, before MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto went to within 0.137s of the top time in second, demoting Maloney to third.

Maloney and Rodin had chosen not to go out for a second set of push laps late on, but the early signs heading into Qualifying were very positive.

QUALIFYING

After having Free Practice in the sweltering afternoon heat, the drivers returned to cooler temperatures in the evening, running the Soft tyres for the first time.

Maloney was sixth after his first lap, with Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini on provisional pole thanks to a 1:42.533.

But, like many of his rivals, Maloney chose to go for a second lap on the same set of tyres, and while other struggled to improve, the Bajan driver found more time.

His 1:42.850 put him up to fourth and cut his deficit to Maini to 0.317s, while his teammate Miyata was in eighth.

15 minutes were left in the session, when the Campos pair of Hadjar and Martí went for their first push laps. At this time, the rest of the grid were changing their tyres in the pit lane.

It was a one-two for the Spanish team, Hadjar on top thanks to a 1:42.418, with Martí following him across the line to end up 0.021s behind.

A quick tyre change allowed the top two to come out alongside the rest of the field, and the times began to tumble on the new Softs.

Maloney’s 1:41.982 put him fastest, but he was soon dropped to fourth. Hadjar improved along with the Invicta pairing of Gabriel Bortoleto and Maini, the latter taking pole by over two-tenths with a 1:41.696.

However, Maini was later disqualified from Qualifying after his car was found to have breached the technical regulations. This promoted Bortoleto to pole on debut ahead of Hadjar and Maloney.

SPRINT RACE

With the top 10 reversed for the Sprint, Jak Crawford lined up on pole ahead of the rookie Taylor Barnard. Maloney, having qualified third, was down in eighth.

Crawford made a strong start and kept hold of P1 early on, while Victor Martins and ART Grand Prix teammate Zak O’Sullivan – who started on the Hards running the alternative strategy to the rest of the grid on Softs – were second and third, respectively.

Maloney had also gotten away well and by the end of Lap 1, was up to fifth. He had tremendous confidence in the car, diving down the inside of Enzo Fittipaldi at Turn 11 to go to P4 on Lap 3.

A few corners later, he was up to third, ahead of O’Sullivan, and was quickly onto the back of Martins, eyeing up second.

After biding his time for two laps, Maloney eventually made his way past the Frenchman into Turn 1, and now just had Crawford between him and the lead.

At the same time, O’Sullivan had dropped to P8. Fittipaldi, Hadjar, Paul Aron, and Martí all getting ahead of him.

Back at the front, Maloney was right on the back of Crawford at the start of Lap 7 and got ahead of him into Turn 4, giving him the lead.

The Rodin driver didn’t look back and went on to win by 5.4s ahead of Crawford, while Martí made some late moves on Fittipaldi, Aron, Martins and Hadjar to complete the podium.

It was Maloney’s first win in Formula 2, but he would not have to wait long to get his second in the Feature Race.

FEATURE RACE

Starting in third, Maloney lined up on the Soft tyres, while Bortoleto and Hadjar ahead of him used the Hards. The Rodin driver had an outstanding launch and was in the lead before reaching Turn 1.

Behind him though, Bortoleto and Hadjar had collided. The latter was out of the race, while the former dropped to P4, as O’Sullivan and Dennis Hauger went to second and third, respectively.

By the time the pitstops came around on Lap 19, Maloney had a lead of over five seconds to Martí, who had overtaken Hauger and O’Sullivan earlier to gain P2.

However, after a Safety Car was called upon following Martins’ stoppage on track, the field closed back up, but Maloney retained P1 having pitted just before.

He was able to keep the lead at the restart, holding off O’Sullivan – who jumped ahead of Martí during the pitstop phase – who was now on the Softs.

On Lap 27 of 32, Martí closed in before taking back second place. Moments later, Aron made the move on O’Sullivan for the final spot on the podium.

But no one could quite challenge Maloney, as he went on to cross the 4.6s clear of Martí, who achieved his second podium of the weekend, ahead of Hitech’s Aron – who earned his first.

O’Sullivan wound up in fourth, ahead of Bortoleto, Colapinto, Maini, Hauger, Miyata, and PREMA Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

It set up a great season for Maloney, who wound up finishing fourth in the Drivers' Championship. So, as we head to Bahrain again, can anyone replicate his success this weekend?