Round 12 Post Feature Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Hello and welcome to the press conference of the top three Feature Race finishers here in Baku for Round 12 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. In third place we have Dino Beganovic for Hitech TGR, in second place is Joshua Duerksen for AIX Racing and taking the win is Jak Crawford. Jak, congratulations, well managed to the end. You had to fight back though after losing out at the start. How tough was this race?

Jak Crawford: Yeah, it was not a simple one. I lost out at the start and unfortunately dropped to third and quickly back up to second. I knew it was going to be a long race and that I had good pace. I was slowly catching Fornaroli. I was ready for the pitstop phase and then obviously the Safety Car came. Leo got jumped by me but also Gabriele jumped me. I knew I had the pace on Gabriele and that I could pass him on the first two laps. After the Safety Car I seemed to fire up my tyres well. That probably also hurt me a bit in the end of the race where I struggled a bit more with my tyres. I pushed really hard to break out of Gabriele’s DRS. It probably hurt my tyres a bit and when Josh got behind me, I had to push flat out because he was very fast. Just managed to place my car well and take the win.

FIA Formula 2: You were under huge pressure from Josh towards the end of the race, but the track conditions looked difficult out there, we saw a lot of wind. Did that make things even more complicated? Crawford: Yeah, it was really tough because the slip stream was really strong. Every time I felt like I was breaking Gabriele’s DRS I felt like he was coming back with the slipstream before even the DRS detection. That was a bit unfortunate that there was just a massive head wind down the main straight. I felt like I was being pulled back a bit but on the other hand it helped me do some overtaking to get there. It was tricky to manage; it was really slippery especially in the second half of the lap. Of course, the start of the race was a little bit damp. That was also tricky to manage. In the end we made it through.

FIA Formula 2: Winning from Pole Position at this moment in the season, how important is that to you and DAMS Lucas Oil?

Crawford: Yeah, it is huge for us, two points for pole, fourth yesterday and first today in the Feature Race where the good points are. We know what we need to do if we want to win the Championship, it was such a crucial weekend for us. We could have very easily been out of the fight and now we are properly back in it closer to Leo. Looking forward to a bit of a break and good last few rounds.

FIA Formula 2: Well done today. Joshua, P2 in the end but a stellar drive from 15th on the grid. Just talk us through your race because you were very quick.

Joshua Duerksen: I think we just hit it right with the setup, with the track conditions and everything. We were quick here last year we just didn’t get it right in qualifying. We expected something that in the end it wasn’t like that in qualifying, especially with the Red Flags everything got tricky. We didn’t really manage a lap, so this put us P15. Today I think we nailed it, I felt really great with the car. I had a mega start, I don’t know how many cars I overtook on the first lap, but I think I went from fifteenth to maybe P9 on the first lap, something like that. The pace was just good, I felt comfortable in the car, I felt confident. As I said last year, we were quick here as well, I have good memories in Baku. I know I have the speed, and I know the car has the speed. Today we just got everything together and it went perfect.

FIA Formula 2: You had one or two opportunities to make a pass but as you mentioned in the cool down room, there was no grip. Did you think about a big dive at all or was it too risky?

Duerksen: I tried around the outside in T1, but the grip was not feeling great, so I decided to back off a bit there and just try again in T3. There are a lot of cases where people tried to overtake around the outside and they just go into the wall. The grip was really poor there so I thought that it wouldn’t work so I just tried to get him back in T3. Jak, he defended really well the last lap. I was trying to catch him, but he also had good pace. I wish we had one or two more laps then I think I may have gotten him. But he did a really great race. Just really happy for the team, especially with these conditions because it rained in the morning, one hour before it was still kind of damp, wettish, we didn’t really know what to expect for the race. Especially with the car balance and the behaviour of the tyres. But I think we nailed it today.

FIA Formula 2: You seem to go well here, you won your first F2 race here last season, why do you think this track suits you so well?

Duerksen: I really don’t know to be honest. I think I just feel comfortable with this track, I like this layout. What’s most important is that the car fits to my driving style and I think the car and my driving style fit quite well on this track. I really don’t know why I like Baku that much but somehow it fits me.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you, Josh, well done. Dino, on the podium once again this weekend. How do you look back at today’s race and this weekend overall?

Dino Beganovic: Looking back at the race I think before the race it was already quite obvious that we need to manage a little bit and stay out of trouble. Especially in the beginning and mid part of the race, then our race kind of started from the mid part to the end. I think that was well executed. Everybody was on the Option tyre in the beginning and the pitstop was quite straight forward. But like I said it’s about staying out of trouble in the beginning and most parts of the race, then making sure you have the tyre to be able to attack and that is what we did. Very happy with this race, I am happy with the weekend overall. It’s a great response from the whole season which has been very tough for me this year. To come back like this after having found out some stuff in Monza, it’s a great statement.

FIA Formula 2: You said yesterday you felt the car would be good today, do you think that was the best result you could have hoped for?

Beganovic: That was the target since yesterday. I think we did some adjustments from yesterday to today which maybe was not the fitting as well as we wanted. Especially with the wet coming overnight and obviously very tricky track conditions this morning. It wasn’t as straight forward as yesterday, and the pace wasn’t as good. But we were still in the fight, still in P3 and I am happy with the race. I think maybe we went in the wrong direction but still it is a very positive result.

FIA Formula 2: Onto Qatar where you made your F2 debut last season and impressed, you must be looking forward to it in your current form?

Beganovic: Yeah I am looking forward to the break now and going back to the virtual world of simulators. At the same time, I am looking forward to Qatar where I did my F2 debut, I have great memories from there and Abu Dhabi as well. It is going to be good to come back there and race there again. Of course, I forgot to say credit to Jak for the win and Joshua for the drive, from P15 it’s pretty impressive to finish P2.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you well done today.