FORMULA 2 WEEKEND KICKS OFF WITH DUNNE ON TOP

Alexander Dunne began his Baku weekend in style by setting the pace in Formula 2 Free Practice, edging out title rival Jak Crawford in a tightly contested session. The Rodin Motorsport driver clocked a late 1:55.720 to secure the fastest time, just 0.049s clear of the DAMS Lucas Oil man, while Hitech TGR’s Dino Beganovic completed the top three.

Early on, Joshua Duerksen led the timesheets with a 2:00.278 for AIX Racing, narrowly ahead of PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Minì. As the track began to rubber in, lap times quickly tumbled. Luke Browning stormed to the top with a 1:58.407, more than a second ahead of his nearest challenger Richard Verschoor. Crawford soon bettered that with a 1:58.285, as TRIDENT rookie Martinius Stenshorne slotted into second just 0.006s back.

As conditions improved, Browning returned to P1 on a 1:56.769, half a second clear of Victor Martins and Beganovic. Martins then used Browning’s slipstream to snatch the top spot on a 1:56.388, before Browning struck back with a 1:55.869, relegating Martins to second by 0.158s.

With the session heading into its final minutes, a Virtual Safety Car was deployed after Arvid Lindblad came to a halt down an escape road in his Campos car. Once running resumed with just over three minutes to go, Dunne delivered a superb lap to go quickest with his 1:55.720, just ahead of Crawford, with Beganovic a mere 0.058s off in third. Browning ended up fourth, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagómez completed the top five.

Martins settled for sixth, followed by Minì in seventh, Oliver Goethe in eighth for MP Motorsport, and the pair of Ritomo Miyata and Richard Verschoor rounding out the top ten.

The field will now analyse their data before heading back out at 14:00 local time for the crucial Qualifying session.