Bahrain F2 Grand Prix – Sprint Race: Iwasa wins under pressure from Martins, Pourchaire makes a mistake
Author of a good start, Ayumu Iwasa won the sprint race just ahead of Victor Martins, who started 10th. Earlier, Théo Pourchaire made a big mistake by crashing into Oliver Bearman's Prema car.
Iwasa takes the lead, Maloney brings out the safety car
Author of an excellent start, Iyumu Iwasa (DAMS), who started from the second row and came out in second place at the first corner just behind Jak Crawford (Hitech), who started in pole position. He had a very good start, Alpine driver Victor Martins, who started 10th, gained three positions at the start and is now in seventh place.
From the beginning of the second lap, Iwasa takes control of the race by diving on the inside of the American at the first turn. Behind, the Barbadian, Zane Maloney (Rodin Carlin), causes the first intervention of the safety car, spinning out on his own and then retiring.
A serious and consequential error
On the restart, Jack Crawford loses yet another position at the first corner to Jehan Daruvala (MP Motorsport).
Théo Pourchaire does the same by overtaking Kush Maini (Campos) at the same spot and takes 7th position. On the next lap, he attempts the same move on his teammate Victor Martins, but completely misses his braking point and collides with Oliver Bearman’s Prema, who was in 5th place. A gross mistake that brings out the safety car once again.
The second neutralization of the race freezes the positions, the top eight is then composed of: Iyumu Iwasa, Ralph Boschung, Jehan Daruvala, Jack Crawford, Victor Martins, Kush Maini, Jack Doohan and Frédérik Vesti.
SAFETY CAR (LAP 7/20)
Theo Pourchaire gets it all wrong! He goes to overtake Martins, misjudges the braking, and slams into Bearman
Both drivers are out and okay#SaudiArabianGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/DedzhQx8XS
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 18, 2023
The comeback of Martins
Second restart and Martins immediately passes Crawford for 4th position, and sets the fastest lap in 1.45.588.
In front, Daruvala and Boschung exchange the places of honor, and the French driver takes advantage of it to take the 3rd place by passing the Swiss driver at the exit of the second corner. Daruvala makes the same mistake in the next lap, while trying to pass Iwasa who is struggling with his car. Victor Martins, who started in the fifth row, is now in 2nd place.
On the final laps, he puts pressure on the Japanese driver, but the latter holds his ground and wins for the first time this season.
The final ranking:
Iyumu Iwasa, Victor Martins, Jehan Daruvala, Ralph Boschung, Kush Maini, Frédérik Vesti, Jack Doohan, and Dennis Hauger take the final point and complete the top eight.
