MOTOR RACING – Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto grabbed the first feature race pole of the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship yesterday after teammate Kush Maini, the original leader, was disqualified for a car infringement.
Alpine Formula 1 academy driver Maini earlier beat Bortoleto by 0.219s in the qualifying shootout of the event, being held in support of the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2024.
Maini had clocked a fastest lap of 1:41.696. However, following a post-race inspection of his car, it was found that the height of the left undertray front external strake was below the required height.
All of his times from qualifying were deleted and the Indian driver will start both the sprint and the feature race from the back of the grid.
A statement from the FIA on the matter read: “In respect of Car 9, the left undertray front external strake in the area defined in the Technical Delegate’s report was outside the thresholds outlined in Articles 3.4.1 and 3.4.2 of the 2024 Formula 2 Technical Regulations.
“Disqualification of Car 9 from the results of the Qualifying Session. Removal of all times set by Car 9 in the Qualifying Session. All cars originally classified behind Car 9 are moved up one place in the Qualifying Session classification.
“Permission is given for Car 9 to start the Sprint Race from the back of the grid after any other penalties are applied. Permission is given for Car 9 to start the Feature Race from the back of the grid after any other penalties are applied.”
The FIA document on the summons also noted that the team accepts the findings, while Maini was said to believe the underside of the car had been damaged due to a kerb strike.
As such, the team says the damage to the car led to the offending area being deemed to be under the required limit – rather than any push on its part to gain any performance.
Isack Hadjar of Campos Racing will move up to the front row in second, with Zane Maloney third in his Rodin Motorsport entry.
Dennis Hauger (+0.294s) of MP Motorsport took fouth on the grid, while set to start beside him in tomorrow’s feature is Ritomo Miyata (+0.307s) in the other Rodin car. Zak O’Sullivan (+0.318s) and Enzo Fittipaldi (+0.374s) completed the top seven in qualifying.
After finishing 10th in the session, Taylor Barnard of PHM AIX Racing will start today’s F2 sprint race in first place. This is per F2’s unique qualifying rules.
Meanwhile, Dino Beganovic powered defending champions Prema Racing to the first feature race pole position of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship.
The Swede set a fastest lap of 1:46.431 to top qualifying. His time earned him the leading grid spot for tomorrow’s feature event.
Beganovic finished 0.167 seconds ahead of Luke Browning of Hitech Pulse-Eight, while Beganovic’s Prema teammate Gabriele Mini (+0.170s) will start from row two alongside Sami Meguetounif (+0.364s) of Trident.
The two other Trident cars of Santiago Ramos (+0.367s) and Leonardo Fornaroli (+0.374s) qualified on row three, while MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz (+0.397s) and ART Grand Prix’s Christian Mansell (+0.412s) are to start from row four.
The leading 10 from F3’s 30-car grid is completed by Arvid Lindblad (+0.442s) of Prema and Max Esterson (+0.503s) of Jenzer Motorsport.
By finishing 12th in qualifying, Laurens Van Hoepen of ART Grand Prix secured pole for today’s F3 sprint race. This is per F3’s unique qualifying format for starting grids.
Harry King clocked the fastest lap in the second practice session of the 2023/2024 Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East’s fifth round.
The Briton had a time of two minutes 01.504 seconds to top the session’s timesheet. Dutchman Robert De Haan followed with a best lap of 2:01.811, while Colin Boenighausen of Germany finished third in 2:01.906.
The top three are all competing in the series’ Pro class.
In the ProAm category, Khaled Alahmadi of Saudi Arabia was the leader with a best lap of 2:02.668, while homegrown talent Shaikh Jaber bin Ali Al Khalifa of Team Bahrain was the top man amongst the Am competitors, setting a quickest mark of 2:05.246.
&uuid=(email))