Campos Racing driver Pepe Marti took the Formula 2 Sprint Race victory from 11th on the grid at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Joshua Durksen had led the Sprint from the start before Hitech’s Dino Beganovic gained the race lead on Lap 11.
However, towards the end of the race, after Durksen retook first place on track, Marti continued his climb up the order before making his move on the Paraguayan racing driver.
Richard Verschoor stole second place in the end from Durksen, as the AIX Racing driver was forced to settle for third place.
Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli secured pole position on Friday for the Feature Race, but with the grid reversed, he started the race from 10th place.
The Italian racing driver achieved his first podium in the series last time out in Melbourne.
However, it was Durksen who started the Sprint from pole, looking to make it back-to-back victories on a Saturday this season.
Joining him on the front row was Beganovic, with Rafael Villagomez completing the order for the top three in his Van Amersfoort Racing car.
Marti masterclass in Bahrain F2 Sprint Race
Durksen led the opening lap as the Hitech of Luke Browning was slow to get away.
Victor Martins was forced wide, hitting the polystyrene boards and damaging his front wing as he went straight on at Turn 1.
The Frenchman pitted for repairs and returned to the track at the back of the grid.
Sebastian Montoya, after a poor qualifying for Prema Racing, was spun around by Amaury Cordeel at Turn 8 and was unable to get going again after starting from 18th place.
The Safety Car was called out to remove the stricken car and get rid of the polystyrene left on the track by Martins’ misfortunes.
Beganovic held onto second, Villagomez third, Verschoor up to fourth and Alex Dunne for Rodin Motorsport up to fifth from seventh place on the grid.
Marti gained five places on the opening lap and his way up into sixth place.
Replays of the start showed that Martins was squeezed by Dunne as he moved over due to the presence of Sami Meguetounif in the Trident car.
Heading into Lap 5, the Safety Car returned to the garage and the racing resumed in Bahrain.
The top five remained the same as Dunne attempted to overtake Verschoor in the MP Motorsport car.
On Lap 6, Marti had a strong run on Dunne, and as they approached Turn 1, Marti went off track to pass the Irishman, who squeezed him out wide.
Cordeel was handed a 10-second time penalty for his collision with Montoya, but the stewards deemed no further action for the race start incident involving Dunne, Martins and Meguetounif.
Dunne took fifth place back from Marti heading into Turn 1, as the incident between the pair was noted by the stewards.
Fornaroli had dropped back as far as 17th place by Lap 9, just ahead of Martins – his front-row partner for the Feature race.
On Lap 10, Verschoor made his way past Villagomez as Beganovic closed in on Durksen.
The following lap, Beganovic got close to the race leader and made his move stick heading out of Turn 4.
A member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, the Swedish-Bosnian racing driver now led the Sprint, but Durksen stressed over the radio that he was pushing too hard too early in the race.
On Lap 13, Dunne sent it on Villagomez into Turn 1 after his team told him to go for it.
A member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, he gave his best cowboy impression over the radio after making the move stick.
With nine laps remaining, the top eight stood as Beganovic, Durksen, Verschoor, Dunne, Villagomez, Marti, Browning and Meguetounif holding the final point-scoring position.
Beganovic pulled out a lead of over two seconds to Durksen, and on Lap 16, Max Esterson stopped on track with the Safety Car returning to allow the Trident car to be taken away.
Kush Maini for DAMS Lucas Oil was the first to pit for the soft tyres at the back of the grid.
Gabrielle Mini from 10th in the Prema car was next, but he opted for the hard tyre.
Jak Crawford, Cordeel, Oliver Goethe, Fornaroli and Ritomo Miyata also pitted for fresher tyres before the race resumed.
Heading into Lap 19, the Safety Car peeled back into the pits with Esterson’s car cleared.
Durksen got a good run on Beganovic heading into the final corner and passed the Hitech car for the race lead.
Dunne made a move on Verschoor, which allowed Browning and Marti to get involved, with the latter moving up into fourth place.
Villagomez jumped up into fifth after Browning and Dunne made contact, the British driver settling for sixth behind the Mexican driver.
On Lap 20, Dunne dropped down to eighth as Arvid Lindblad made his way up into seventh in the Campos car.
The next lap, Beganovic applied the pressure to Durksen, but Verschoor and Marti had caught the race leaders, making it a four-way fight for the race lead.
Into Turn 8 on Lap 22, Verschoor made a move on Beganovic after he failed to get past Durksen, with Marti sweeping by for second as the pair tangled.
Entering the final lap of the race, Marti took the lead into Turn 1 with the top 12 close together.
Dunne lost his front wing before almost collecting Fornaroli, ending his race on Lap 23.
Verschoor then made his way past Durksen brilliantly at Turn 12 around the outside, as Marti cruised home in the end for the win.
The Dutchman crossed the line in second with Durksen in third place to complete the top three.
Beganovic finished in fourth place and Goethe, on a late charge after pitting, took fifth place at the finish.
Lindblad raced well to take sixth, Villagomez holding on for seventh and Mini grabbed a point right at the end to complete the top eight.
READ MORE – Leonardo Fornaroli grabs maiden F2 pole for the Bahrain Feature Race
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