Alex Dunne took a dominant F2 Feature Race win under the Bahrain sun, in a display that acted as a statement of intent.
Lights out and opening laps of F2 Bahrain Sprint Race
At lights out, Fornaroli got away well, taking a commanding lead into the first corner. Alex Dunne moved into into second place after an aggressive start. Four wide into turn 4, Pepi Marti emerged the victor of the fight, all cars surviving.
Two option tyres drivers were at the front of the field at the end of the first lap, as Fornaroli pulled a second clear, crucially breaking the DRS barrier.
The field settled down early in the opening laps. The top eight were on soft tyres, with the rest on hard tyres,, except for Sebastian Montoya. He was also on soft tyres, but languished down in 15th. The battle of the tyre strategies would have ramifications for the early soft runners later in the race.
Montoya used his soft tyres to move into 14th on lap 5, but he had a long way to go to salvage points. Luke Browning and Joshua Durksen, who battled hard, led the hard tyre runners. This was in stark contrast to the soft tyre runners, who opted to preserve their rubber.
Early leader change and pit battles
Fornaroli began to complain of soft tyre issues on lap six. Alex Dunne used DRS to pass the now former leader, while Pepi Marti took Rafael Villagomez for third.
Dunne was told he needed another ten laps on his tyres, but he felt good. Fornaroli moved out of DRS range a lap later, but did not fall behind the McLaren junior driver.
The first pit stops took place on lap 11, with John Bennett and Gabriele Mini pitting for soft tyres. The top runners would be watching them to see if his pace could spark a response.
The pack began to cluster up, with the different pit strategies beginning to play out. The first of the soft tyre runners, Martins pitted from third on lap 13. He emerged in the midfield, and set about taking advantage of his new rubber.
The hard tyre runners discovered the soft tyres’ perks, lasting longer than the hards. At the halfway stage of the race.
Dunne had created a 4.7-second lead by the time Fornaroli and Marti chose to pit on lap 16. Fornaroli maintained track position, while Dunne continued for one more lap.
Halfway stage
Once Dunne exited the pits, he got out in front of Victor Martins. However, his tyres needed to warm up, and starting piling on the pressure.
Dunne moved back into the race lead, but now had Luke Browning on soft tyres charging through the field.
Further back, Montoya’s difficult afternoon got worse, as he was awarded a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Once his tyres were warmed up to temperature, he began pulling away by two to three tenths of a second a lap, before his tyres began to slow.
Closing laps of F2 Feature race in Bahrain
Browning’s soft tyres were putting in a position to win, as he hunted down and passed team-mate Martins. With nine laps to go, he set off in search of Dunne. But Dunne was a dominant force at the front.
Further back, Durksen passed Bennet for the final point, looking to salvage a result following his disqualification yesterday.
Martins, Fornaroli, and Marti were all locked in a battle for the podium as the laps counted down. Fornaroli used a great exit off the final corner to move past Martins for third. The Frenchman attempted to counter, but failed. Pepi Marti was next to overhaul Martins, moving into 4th with 4 laps to go.
Fornaroli defended hard on the last lap, determined to keep Marti behind. In a nailbiting battle, it was the Invicta that emerged on top.
Dunne took his first win in F2 by 8.2 seconds, in a dominant display, with Browning second, and Fornaroli completing the podium. Marti, Martins, and Richard Verschoor completed the top six.
