Maloney, Lindblad clinch F2, F3 victories at Bahrain International Circuit

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Zane Maloney and Arvid Lindblad won the season-opening races of their respective championships yesterday, held in support of the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024 at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Maloney took the chequered flag in the Formula 2 sprint race for Rodin Motorsport, while Lindblad triumphed in the Formula 3 sprint for defending champions Prema Racing.

Both F2 and F3 are part of the support series programme at this year’s grand prix weekend.

Maloney emerged victorious after a thrilling 23-lap F2 sprint. Following a quick getaway, the Barbados driver gradually fought his way to the front and then built a comfortable gap towards the end.

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 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.

Debut

Meanwhile, Lindblad claimed his maiden triumph in F3 on his debut start. The Briton powered to first place after taking over as race leader late in the 19-lap event.

Lindblad claimed the chequered flag in a winning time of 35:35.482, enjoying a 5.478-second gap from runner-up and pole-sitter Laurens van Hoepen of ART Grand Prix.

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 12noon today, with Prema’s Dino Beganovic on pole.

Also last night supporting the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024, Harry King from Great Britain won the first race of round five in the 2023/2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East (PCCME).

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 this afternoon, starting from 3pm