Alex Dunne back on top after Baku Feature Race victory
In the first Feature Race of the weekend, it was Alex Dunne who claimed victory in Baku on Friday afternoon in a pole-to-win conversion to continue his strong weekend.
Close behind him was teammate Martinius Stenshorne in second, and in third was Sprint Race winner Dino Beganovic to round out the podium.
How it happened
Only 21 cars lined up on the grid for the race as a mistake from Sebastian Montoya on the reconnaissance lap saw him unable to take part.
After an impressing Qualifying, Rodin Motorsport locked out the front row for Feature Race 1 with Dunne on Pole lined up alongside teammate Stenshorne.
On lights out Dunne had a strong start, retaining his position into Turn 1. Just behind him Noel Leon also had a favourable start allowing him an opportunity to advance to second however, Stenshorne defended his position to hold second.
Further down the gird championship rivals Rafael Camara and Nikola Tsolov both found themselves gaining two positions each advancing into fourth and eight respectively.
Progressing towards points contention was Roman Bilinski in Lap 5 as he made a clean move on Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak to take 11th.
In Lap 6, Tsolov attempted an overtake on Alpine-backed Kush Maini, however, was unsuccessful. Shortly after, the bad luck continued for Tsolov in the pits as a mistake from the Campos team saw him drop several places into 18th upon pit exit.
In Lap 8, Mari Boya began to slow after a lockup into Turn 1. Consequently, a safety car was called to remove his car from the track.
After four laps under the safety car, Lap 12 signalled its end, and it was back racing into Turn 1.
It was an unfavourable restart for Camara as he struggled to find adequate pace and consequently lost his position to Beganovic.
Further down the field in a messy Turn 3, Cian Shields, John Bennett, Laurens Van Hoepen, Rafael Villagomez, Joshua Durksen, Rimoto Miyata and Tsolov were all involved in a pileup incident that spelt the end of all their races.
Due to the incident a red flag was called, and the session was temporarily stopped.
With the delay, the race restarted on a safety car as a rolling start was called. The race resumed as a timed race with 17 minutes remaining.
Upon race restart, Oliver Goethe held his position in first ahead of Dunne. Meanwhile, Camara once again struggled with his pace on restart losing two positions to Stenshorne and Leon, falling into P6.
With 10 minutes remaining, Dunne made a move on Goethe allowing him to regain the lead.
Meanwhile, a few places back his Rodin teammate Stenshorne advanced into podium contention after an overtake on Beganovic.
Stuck on aging tyres, Goethe struggled to maintain second as Stenshorne began to close in. Whilst he held steady after an advantageous move into Turn 1 from Stenshorne, a lockup damaged his tyres forcing him to retreat to the pits.
In the final lap of the race, Dunne held steady creating a nearly 4-second gap to second allowing him to have a clean race to the checkered flag, whilst also securing the fastest lap.
Stenshorne trailed behind his teammate to take second, with Beganovic close behind securing third, and his second podium of the weekend.
In a last second sprint to the line, Camara took fourth position from Leon moving him into the championship lead.
What’s next
The 2026 Formula 2 championship season will continue on Saturday at 9:00AM CEST for Feature Race 2 with Rafael Camara leading the championship on 182 points.
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