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Home Featured Maini claims first F2 pole in one-two for renamed Invicta team

Maini claims first F2 pole in one-two for renamed Invicta team

by Peter Allen

Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

Kush Maini led a one-two for the renamed Invicta Racing squad in the first Formula 2 qualifying session of the year in Bahrain.

Alpine Academy driver Maini already went fastest on the first runs in the opening part of the session, ahead of Dennis Hauger.

Campos Racing put its Red Bull juniors Isack Hadjar and Pepe Marti out on an empty track in the middle of the session and they went one-two.

When the final runs came in the last five minutes, Enzo Fittipaldi was first to the top, followed by Zane Maloney, before Hadjar reclaimed first place.

Formula 3 champion Gabriel Bortoleto then went fastest before team-mate Maini went 0.219 seconds quicker to head a front row lockout for the team formerly known as Virtuosi before a sponsor buy-in over the winter.

Hadjar and Maloney will share row two on the grid for Sunday’s feature race with Hauger to be joined on the third row by Ritomo Miyata, team-mate to Maloney at Rodin.

Victor Martins ended up ninth, two places behind his rookie ART Grand Prix team-mate Zak O’Sullivan, with Fittipaldi finishing up eighth.

Taylor Barnard put in an excellent lap at the chequered flag to take 10th and therefore reversed-grid pole position for his first F2 race.

Prema’s fears after a difficult pre-season test with the new F2 car were realised as its drivers qualified 18th and 19th: debutant Andrea Kimi Antonelli just ahead of Ollie Bearman, who had been slowest of all after the first runs.

Qualifying results
Pos Driver Team Time Gaps Laps
1 Kush Maini Invicta Racing 1m41.696s 10
2 Gabriel Bortoleto Invicta Racing 1m41.915s +0.219s 10
3 Isack Hadjar Campos Racing 1m41.938s +0.242s 8
4 Zane Maloney Rodin Motorsport 1m41.982s +0.286s 12
5 Dennis Hauger MP Motorsport 1m41.990s +0.294s 12
6 Ritomo Miyata Rodin Motorsport 1m42.003s +0.307s 12
7 Zak O’Sullivan ART Grand Prix 1m42.014s +0.318s 11
8 Enzo Fittipaldi Van Amersfoort Racing 1m42.070s +0.374s 12
9 Victor Martins ART Grand Prix 1m42.158s +0.462s 11
10 Taylor Barnard PHM Racing 1m42.207s +0.511s 11
11 Jak Crawford DAMS 1m42.287s +0.591s 11
12 Pepe Marti Campos Racing 1m42.333s +0.637s 8
13 Paul Aron Hitech GP 1m42.340s +0.644s 11
14 Juan Manuel Correa DAMS 1m42.369s +0.673s 12
15 Rafael Villagomez Van Amersfoort Racing 1m42.392s +0.696s 12
16 Franco Colapinto MP Motorsport 1m42.392s +0.696s 12
17 Richard Verschoor Trident 1m42.644s +0.948s 10
18 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Prema 1m42.693s +0.997s 11
19 Ollie Bearman Prema 1m42.710s +1.014s 11
20 Amaury Cordeel Hitech GP 1m42.945s +1.249s 11
21 Roman Stanek Trident 1m43.068s +1.372s 10
22 Joshua Duerksen PHM Racing 1m43.153s +1.457s 11