Pepe Marti storms through from 11th to score Bahrain F2 sprint victory

Photo: Red Bull

Pepe Marti stormed through from 11th on the grid to win the Formula 2 sprint race in Bahrain.

A late safety car and significant tyre wear led to last-gasp battles for position at the front of the field. Marti claimed the race lead on the final lap and broke away from the front group slightly to finish 0.922 seconds clear of Richard Verschoor.

Marti got a storming start from the sixth row, avoiding the opening lap drama to move up to sixth place by the end of lap one. The safety car was brought out for an incident between Sebastian Montoya and Amaury Cordeel that left Montoya facing the wrong direction. Some side-by-side action with Alex Dunne going into the first corner sent Victor Martins through the grass and polystyrene boards, but he was able to continue after a pit stop for a new front wing.

On the restart, Marti was battling with Dunne. He managed to take fifth, but went off track as he made the move. Dunne came back through and Luke Browning joined them to make it a three-car fight for position.

On lap 14, Max Esterson had run into trouble and came to a stop on track, prompting another safety car.

By this point, tyre wear was becoming a significant issue for most of the field.

Joshua Duerksen, who had held the lead off of reversed-grid pole, had slipped back to second behind Dino Beganovic. However, Beganovic seemed to be using his tyres more heavily and risked trouble in the closing laps.

Many drivers outside the points decided to gamble for fresh tyres during the safety car period, while those at the front stayed on the used rubber.

The safety car reduced Beganovic’s lead to nothing and put Marti on the tail of the leaders.

Racing resumed on lap 19 and the leaders wasted no time before battling for position. Duerksen retook the lead from Beganovic while Marti was part of a line of drivers running four-wide behind them. Vershoor won the four-car fight to take third but had Marti close behind him. 

Verschoor was able to get alongside Beganovic, but as he did so Marti found a way past both to move into second place.

As they started the final lap, Marti was right behind Duerksen. The positions didn’t hold for long, as Marti swept past to take the race lead. Duerksen tried to fight back but then found himself under pressure from Verschoor, who pipped him for second.

Beganovic dropped back to fourth by the chequered flag, ahead of the hard charging Oliver Goethe.

Goethe was one of seven drivers to pit for fresh rubber during the final safety car. He stormed up through the order from outside the top 10 to finish just 1.9s behind the race winner. 

Arvid Lindblad took sixth ahead of Rafael Villagomez and Gabriele Mini, the next best driver who stopped for tyres.

After fighting at the front early on both Dunne and Browning slipped back in the final stages of the race. A mistake for Dunne on the final lap dropped him further down the order, while Browning was shuffled back to 11th in the last lap fight with Leonardo Fornaroli and Ritomo Miyata, who finished ninth and 10th respectively.

Race results (23 laps)