Crawford pleased with P4 after ‘fun’ Baku Sprint Race

20 September 2025

Jak Crawford continued his fine form in Baku as he charged his way through the field to finish fourth in the Baku Sprint Race.

The DAMS Lucas Oil driver took pole in Friday’s Qualifying session, leaving him starting down in 10th place when the grid was reverse for Saturday’s 21-lap event.

A good start saw Crawford get up to eighth on Lap 1, and he gained one more place with an overtake on title rival Leonardo Fornaroli at the end of Lap 7.

SPRINT RACE: Beganovic dominates in Hitech TGR 1-2 around Baku

The American gained even more positions when both Martinius Stenshorne and Sebastián Montoya dropped through the field with issues, before a move past Gabriele Minì on Lap 19 put him to fourth.

Crawford did not quite have enough to overtake Alexander Dunne for third, but speaking afterwards, he was pleased with how the race went.

“Very pleased but very tricky,” reflected Crawford. “The colder conditions today and a little bit of drizzle made it a little bit tough on the restarts and obviously the race start.

Crawford made his way forward from P10 to fourth in the Baku Sprint Race

“I feel like once you survive the race starts you get into a rhythm, and if you can survive those moments at the restarts, you can survive the race.

“It was definitely fun though. The conditions were not easy, they were a lot different to yesterday so we had to drive a little bit different. Obviously, we are in a race conditions so we have to deal with tyre wear.

“It became a little bit tricker than the past few days to drive, everyone was pretty sensible to be honest, no one was making huge mistakes, everyone was taking it easy before pushing on the last five laps.”

Talking through the overtakes he made, Crawford said it was all about taking advantage of the drivers ahead being involved in battles.

“There are lots of opportunities at this track just by keeping it clean,” said Crawford. “I was able to attack when some others were getting into fights.

“I saw some moments with Fornaroli when he was in a fight and then with Minì when he was in a fight right after I was able to overtake him. I was just biding my time and eventually I could make my way up.”

Crawford is set to start from pole in Sunday's Feature Race

Crawford is set to start from pole in Sunday’s Feature Race, and he picked out a few things he learned from the Sprint, including how well Saturday’s winner Dino Beganovic performed at the front of the field.

“We have a lot of good stuff,” said Crawford when asked about the data collected from the Sprint Race. “I think clean air is crucial, as we saw with Dino today.

“Everyone else seemed to struggle after battling and fighting, so clean air will be crucial, and having that will be the best position to be in.

“You have good tyres, you are in the lead and you are able to do your own race. That is what we need to find. From the car side, I think we have some good stuff today, we are already quite quick, so it will be about fixing small things.”