MOTOR RACING – Zane Maloney scored his first ever victory in Formula 2 as he recovered from eighth on the grid to win the Sprint Race at the Bahrain International Circuit yesterday.
The Rodin Motorsport driver from Barbados took the chequered flag after a thrilling 23-lap battle. Following a quick getaway, Maloney gradually fought his way to the front and then built a comfortable gap towards the chequered flag.
Maloney took the lead on lap eight and was more than two seconds clear heading into the home stretch. He added to his advantage, going four seconds in front with five laps to go, and finished with a winning time of 42 minutes 13.726 seconds.
Maloney was 5.490 seconds ahead of runner-up and reverse grid pole-sitter Jak Crawford of DAMS Lucas Oil, while Josep Maria Marti of Campos Racing took the final podium place 7.057s behind.
Isack Hadjar of Campos Racing was fourth, Paul Aron of Hitech Pulse-Eight was fifth, Gabriel Bortoleto of Invicta Racing sixth, Zak O’Sullivan of ART Grand Prix seventh, and Dennis Hauger of MP Motorsport in eighth as the final points winner.
The stage is now set for the F2 Feature Race, scheduled for 1.30pm today, with Bortoleto on pole. His Invicta Racing teammate Kush Maini was originally in the leading grid spot for the 32-lap event, but he was disqualified from Thursday’s qualifying, promoting Bortoleto.
Arvid Lindblad triumphed yesterday in the season-opening sprint race of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship, held in support of the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Briton powered to victory for defending champions Prema Racing after taking over as race leader late in the 19-lap event.
Lindblad claimed the chequered flag in a winning time of 35 minutes 35.482 seconds, enjoying a 5.478-second gap from runner-up and pole-sitter Laurens van Hoepen of ART Grand Prix.
Lindblad registered his maiden F3 race win on his very first start.
Leonardo Fornaroli of Trident clinched the other podium place after finishing 5.514 seconds behind the winner. ART’s Nikola Tsolov, who led for much of the sprint, had to settle for fourth, while Tim Tramnitz of MP Motorsport was fifth, Max Esterson of Jenzer Motorsport six, Gabriele Mini of Prema seventh, and Mari Boya of Campos Racing eighth.
Completing the top 10 and rounding off the points winners were Oliver Goethe of Campos and Sami Meguetounif of Trident.
The F3 field returns to action for the 22-lap feature race, scheduled for today at 12noon, with Prema’s Dino Beganovic on pole.
Harry King from Britain won the first race of round five last night in the 2023-24 Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East (PCCME), being held in support of the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
King clinched the chequered flag after 11 exciting laps in a winning time of 22:35.628. He finished 2.767 seconds ahead of runner-up Robert De Haan from the Netherlands, while pole-sitter Theo Oeverhaus of Germany had to settle for the last podium place, 10.660s from the victor. All three leading overall finishers are competing in the PCCME’s Pro class.
Taking the victory amongst the ProAm runners was Khaled Alahmadi of Saudi Arabia, while Team Bahrain’s very own Shaikh Jaber bin Ali Al Khalifa finished first amongst the Am participants.
The weekend’s second race in the PCCME is scheduled for today afternoon, starting at 3pm.