F2 News: Martí dominates at Yas Marina as Bortoleto extends lead

Josep María Martí made an excellent start count as he went from fourth to the top step of the podium, claiming his maiden Formula 2 victory at the Yas Marina Sprint Race.

The Campos Racing driver resisted the charge from second-placed Gabriel Bortoleto to take the win, while the Invicta Racing driver extended his Championship lead over Isack Hadjar to five and a half points, with the Frenchman finishing in sixth place.

Paul Aron achieved his ninth podium of the season in third place but is now mathematically eliminated from the title fight ahead of the Feature Race.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was a dream start for Martí, who got up from fourth to the lead before Turn 1, while AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen and pole-sitter Amaury Cordeel’s slow starts left them fighting for P2.

Their battle opened the door for the charging Invicta car of Kush Maini, who also had an excellent start, diving down the inside of Duerksen and Cordeel at Turn 6 to go to from P8 to second on Lap 1.

In the Championship fight, Bortoleto was up to fifth ahead of Aron, while Hadjar fell to 11th with a damaged front wing end plate after first corner contact with Maini.

On to Lap 3 and Bortoleto was on the charge, getting ahead of Duerksen for P4 at Turn 6 and on the next tour, he was able to get past Cordeel at the same corner to put him in the podium places.

Behind him, his Championship rival Hadjar was looking to mount a comeback and after overtaking Oliver Goethe and Ritomo Miyata, was up to P9 chasing Dino Beganovic.

By Lap 6, Bortoleto was right on the back of his Invicta teammate and used the DRS to his advantage to get ahead of Maini for P2.

Maini was struggling and lost P3 to Cordeel at Turn 6, while the second Hitech car of Aron moved ahead of Duerksen at the same corner.

At the start of Lap 8, Martí was four seconds clear of Bortoleto out front, while Aron and Duerksen were able to get ahead of Maini at Turn 6 to put them fourth and fifth.

Maini’s struggles continued on the next lap as he continued to drop down the field, with PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman and then Beganovic getting ahead of him into the popular Turn 6 before Hadjar put him out of the points altogether on the run to Turn 9.

Back to the battle for the lead, Bortoleto had reduced Martí’s advantage to 3.1s as the 11th lap got underway, with Cordeel a further two seconds behind the Brazilian in third.

With Bortoleto on the podium and just 2.7s behind Martí on Lap 13, Hadjar was looking to rescue as many points as possible but was struggling to overtake Beganovic for seventh.

Cordeel had been over two seconds clear of Aron but a lock up on Lap 16 sent him wide at Turn 12, bringing his teammate right back into contention before he made the move for P3 at Turn 10.

Duerksen was next to attempt a pass on the Belgian, but the two collided down at Turn 6, sending the AIX Racing driver into a spin and out of the race.

It put Bearman up to fourth but just as he was chasing Aron for P3, the Briton was given a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits one too many times on Lap 19.

Cordeel had dropped to fifth before being given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision by the Stewards just as Beganovic overtook him under braking at Turn 6.

Out in front, the gap from Martí to Bortoleto was 2.1s while 11s behind the Brazilian, Aron was resisting Bearman’s attacks as Hadjar got past Cordeel for P6.

Martí though was unaffected out in front heading on to the final lap, before crossing the line to take his maiden Formula 2 victory ahead of Bortoleto, who extended his Championship lead to 5.5 points by finishing second.

Aron was able to hold off Bearman to end up in third, while the Briton’s five-second penalty dropped him to P5, with Beganovic moving to fourth.

Hadjar finished sixth for Campos, while ART Grand Prix driver Luke Browning ending up in seventh as Richard Verschoor rounded out the points for MP Motorsport.

KEY QUOTE – Josep María Martí, Campos Racing

“Obviously super happy to get the win here at Yas Marina for the Sprint Race. Was a great start from P4, I managed to get to the lead and then from there it was trying to pace the same as Gabriel, he was super-fast, so I had to push a lot and obviously not make bit mistakes and keep a distance until the end and win the race, so super happy and looking for a good result tomorrow.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Gabriel Bortoleto moves to 196.5 points and now leads Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar by five and a half points heading into the Feature Race. Hitech Pulse-Eight driver Paul Aron is third on 169 points. Zane Maloney is still fourth on 140 points, while Jak Crawford continues to round out the top five on 140 points.

In the Teams’ Championship, Invicta Racing moved to 270.5 points, but Campos Racing have brought the gap down to 25.5 points heading into the Feature Race. Hitech Pulse-Eight are now on 204 points and have now overtaken MP Motorsport for third, while PREMA Racing stay fifth on 183 points.

Sprint Race Results – 23 Laps