Stenshorne pleased with comeback performance in Baku after tough run of results

Martinius Stenshorne was pleased with how his Baku weekend went overall, although he was slightly disappointed not to have converted pole position into a victory in Feature Race 2.

The Rodin Motorsport driver was in brilliant form throughout the three days in Azerbaijan, following up his P2 in Qualifying 1 with pole in Qualifying 2 by 0.445s.

Stenshorne then finished fourth in the Sprint Race, before taking second in Feature Race 1.

However, in the final race of the weekend, the Norwegian dropped to third behind teammate Alexander Dunne and Rafael Câmara during the pitstop phase, before being overtaken by Nikola Tsolov.

Stenshorne took the chequered flag in fourth, and speaking afterwards, he admitted that there were mixed feelings with his results.

“Overall it's been a positive weekend,” said Stenshorne. “I think we were quick in qualifying, quick in practice, and quick in the Sprint and Feature Race. But we missed a bit today, to be honest.

“We made some changes that didn't fully work out. We were just lacking a little bit and then that was enough to take us off the podium. Anyway, I think we have to be happy with the weekend.

“A lot of points scored, moved up some positions as well in the championship, so we're pretty pleased.”

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When asked why he and Rodin chose to make some changes after a strong performance on Friday, Stenshorne explained that the nature of the track means that they are constantly having to adapt their car.

“The track is evolving all the time,” he explained.” Obviously, the street circuit is not being run at so much, so the track is constantly changing. I think we were really quick in the Sprint Race.

“We lacked maybe a little bit in the Feature Race 1 and then a bit more again now in the second Feature.

“There are some things that we could have done better but overall I think we have to be really happy with our weekend. I think qualifying, especially Qualifying 2 was amazing, so really happy about that.”

The Norwegian has been a constant presence in the points in recent rounds – scoring points in six out of the last eight races.

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But Stenshorne was delighted to be back fighting at the front of the field in Baku, with the results also helping him go from 11th to seventh in the Drivers’ Standings at the end of the weekend.

“Obviously it was good, it was a weekend where we had a lot of running as well,” he continued. “There was a lot of points that we could take and we took a lot, so that was quite positive for the championship side as well.

“But obviously we wanted more starting first today, but anyway it was a good comeback from some difficult rounds.”