Dunne controls first Baku F2 feature race to open up three-way title fight

Photo: Rodin Motorsport

Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne claimed victory in the opening Formula 2 feature race in Baku with a commanding drive from pole position. Dunne’s grasp on victory never looked in doubt.

The Alpine junior’s win moves him fully into contention for the title just eight points behind the new championship leader, Rafael Camara, who snatched fourth from Noel Leon on the blast to the finish line on the last lap.

There was drama even before the lights even went out as Sebastian Montoya spun at Turn 2 on the way to the grid. Unable to restart the car, he would watch the race from the sidelines.

The delayed start didn’t knock Dunne’s confidence as he converted his pole position into the race lead while behind him his team-mate, Martinius Stenshorne, defended his second place from Leon.

By lap 3 the 20-year-old Irishman had broken DRS and was 1.4 seconds clear of Stenshorne who had managed to pull out a gap on Leon and Camara behind.

It wasn’t long before drivers headed for the pits, championship leader Tsolov among the first on lap 7, but the Campos driver struggled to get away, falling behind Van Hoepen and Inthraphuvusak, and then having to cede a position to Duerksen as they ran side-by-side down the pitlane.

The following lap Stenshorne pitted from second, Leon and Mari Boya following in, having been running in the top five. The trio re-joined but drama struck for Prema’s Mari Boya as the Spaniard ground to a halt on the exit of Turn 2 causing a safety car.

This played into the hands of the top five who all dived for the pits, Oliver Goethe and Colton Herta the only two to stay out on track. Dunne’s 4.4 second gap over Camara meant the Rodin driver split Goethe and Herta, re-joining in second while Camara tucked in behind.

Beganovic was the last driver to benefit from the safety car, re-joining ahead of Stenshorne in fifth.

By lap 11, Boya’s Prema had been recovered and Goethe was free to lead the field away, closely followed by Dunne on fresh tyres.

Camara found himself slipping down the order as he got shuffled down the order by Beganovic and Stenshorne while towards the rear Cian Shields sent John Bennett spinning heavily into the wall. In the ensuing carnage, they were joined by Duerksen, Tsolov, Laurens Van Hoepen and Rafael Villagomez. With the track blocked, the race was suspended and the drivers returned to the pits under the red flag.

With Hitech’s Ritomo Miyata also involved the field was reduced to just 14 cars when racing resumed.

Just over 20 minutes remained when Goethe once again led the field away at the restart, still to make his mandatory stop. Camara fell back once more, being passed this time by Leon as the Brazilian fell to seventh.

With 10 minutes go, Dunne finally found his way past Goethe into Turn 1 while behind him his team-mate Stenshorne got past Beganovic.

Goethe’s tyres dropped off dramatically and, with six minutes remaining, the MP Motorsport driver locked up into Turn 3 and dropped within a couple of corner from second to sixth, behind Camara, who was now just one point adrift of Tsolov in the championship standings.

Dunne though remained in a league of his own, crossing the line nearly five seconds clear of his team-mate to secure his first win of 2026.

Beganovic cruised home to claim the last step on the podium while Camara, having finally managed to get onto the tail of the group, drafted past Leon on the line to claim fourth and with it the championship lead.

Gabriele Mini came in sixth with Bilinski  leading Villagomez who had managed to recover to the pitlane after his earlier involvement in the red flag incident.

Hiyu Yamakoshi claimed points on his F2 feature race debut with ninth, despite stalling at the start, while Kush Maini rounded out the top ten after a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane dropped him behind the VAR duo.

Tsolov’s disastrous afternoon was made worse, as he was given a three-place grid penalty for the second feature race in lieu of a five-second penalty, for crossing the white line at pit entry in making his stop.

Sarting from the front row again in the second feature race on Sunday, Dunne’s victory has thrust him into title contention, with just eight points separating him from Camara, who moves into the overall lead by a single point from Tsolov.

Race results (23 laps)

Fastest lap: Dunne, 1m55.737s

Championship standings
1 Camara 182   2 Tsolov 181   3 Dunne 174   4 Mini 161   5 Beganovic 131   6 Leon 129   7 Stenshorne 93   8 Duerksen 90   9 Maini 90  10 Van Hoepen 80