SPRINT RACE: Beganovic goes back-to-back in Baku

Dino Beganovic secured his second consecutive win in FIA Formula 2, winning the Baku Sprint Race once again, this time with DAMS Lucas Oil.

Laurens van Hoepen was P2 for TRIDENT, while Alexander Dunne put on a storming drive to claim seven positions and third on the podium for Rodin Motorsport.

AS IT HAPPENED

Polesitter Nikola Tsolov was immediately over to cover off van Hoepen into Turn 1, while Beganovic was able to round the Dutchman to take second at the first corner.

A lock-up by Rafael Câmara left him skating into the back of Mari Boya at Turn 2, putting the Spaniard in the wall and out of the race.

Alexander Dunne made an opportunistic dive to the inside of Kush Maini and Noel León to take two places in one corner, moving up to seventh at Turn 3.

The Safety Car was then deployed before the end of the lap to recover the PREMA Racing car. Câmara was later handed a 10-second time penalty for causing the incident.

Racing resumed entering Lap 4 and the Invicta Racing driver was on the attack, passing Sebastián Montoya into Turn 3, while Dunne continued his strong progress with a move on the Colombian into the same corner.

Lap 6 and Beganovic had the slipstream on Tsolov to claim the lead of the race into the first corner.

A mistake by Câmara on Lap 8 dropped him behind Dunne as he ran deep into Turn 16 and ran the plank of his car along the exit kerb. It left the Brazilian under pressure from Montoya on the run to Turn 1. He was able to defend the place but ran fifth on the road behind the Rodin driver.

Tsolov had an oversteer moment at the same corner on Lap 10 which gave van Hoepen second position and put Dunne onto the rear wing of the Campos driver.

Further back, Stenshorne moved up to seventh position at the start of Lap 12 with a pass on Noel León at Turn 1.

Tsolov reported his rears were gone over team radio, and Dunne was through at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 13. Câmara compounded the pain for the Bulgarian, claiming P4 on the run to Turn 4.

Lap 16 and Stenshorne moved ahead of Montoya into the first corner to take sixth position. He cleared Tsolov at the end of the lap down the main straight to go into the top five.

Maini and Roman Bilinski made moves of their own to go seventh and eighth ahead of Montoya in the first sector on Lap 17.

Joshua Duerksen found the barriers at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 18. The Paraguayan driver was unable to get going again, bringing out the Safety Car once more.

Câmara was in to serve his time penalty and switch to Supersoft tyres, rejoining down in 18th position, promoting Montoya back into the final points position in eighth.

The Safety Car was withdrawn at the end of Lap 20, leaving one lap to go and a sprint to the chequered flag.

Beganovic got a good restart to hold the lead, but it was teammate Bilinski on the move, taking sixth position with an aggressive restart, diving to the inside of Maini at Turn 5,

Nobody could stop the Swede from taking back-to-back wins in F2, earning his second consecutive Baku Sprint victory also. Van Hoepen and Dunne completed the podium places.

Stenshorne was fourth ahead of Tsolov and Bilinski, while Montoya and Maini completed the points positions down to eighth.

KEY QUOTE – Dino Beganovic, DAMS Lucas Oil

"Victory in the Sprint here in Baku. It's very good to get back-to-back wins even if it's a Sprint Race. Good race overall, had a good start, got past Nikola and I think our pace was very strong. Looking forward to the race later today and tomorrow as well."

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Nikola Tsolov remains at the head of the Drivers' Championship going onto 181 points while Rafael Câmara stays second on 170 points. Gabriele Minì is third with 153 points, while Alexander Dunne moves onto 146. Noel León completes the top five with 119 points.

Campos Racing stays top in the Teams' Standings with 300 points. Invicta Racing is second on 260 points with Rodin Motorsport third on 221. MP Motorsport is fourth with 190, while ART Grand Prix completes the top five in the Standings on 160 points.

UP NEXT

FIA Formula 2 action is not done just yet on Friday in Baku, with the first Feature Race getting underway at 14:00 local time, with Alexander Dunne set to go from an all-Rodin Motorsport front row.