The Campos Racing driver made a late-race charge in a frantic ending, claiming the lead on the final lap before going on to take the victory.
Richard Verschoor finished second for MP Motorsport after he also passed Joshua Duerksen on the final lap, the AIX Racing driver rounding out the podium in third.
AS IT HAPPENED
Pole-sitter Duerksen got the start he needed to retain the lead, but Victor Martins was squeezed on the approach to Turn 1. He was off the road into the polystyrene boards, leaving him with front wing damage and at the back.
Sebastián Montoya’s race was also over early as he was pointed the wrong way and out of the running on the opening tour. That brought out the Safety Car as his PREMA Racing car was recovered and Turn 1 was cleared up.
The Safety Car was back in at the end of Lap 4, and Duerksen retained the lead ahead of Beganovic and Rafael Villagómez.
Verschoor had closed to within DRS range of Villagómez ahead and with a switchback out of Turn 4, seized third position on Lap 10.
Up ahead, the leading pair of Duerksen and Beganovic were three seconds clear of the pack, but the Swede was sticking with the race leader closely. Onto Lap 11 and with DRS up the hill to Turn 4, Beganovic moved to the inside and claimed the race lead.
As many settled into tyre preservation mode, Dunne was on the move again with a dive at Turn 1, passing Villagómez for fourth on Lap 13.
The Safety Car was back out on Lap 16 after Max Esterson came to a stop in his TRIDENT. It brought several drivers into the pit lane for a stop, with Gabriele Minì the highest-placed driver to pit from 10th for Hard Pirelli tyres, leaving him 14th for the restart.
Back to racing conditions entering Lap 19, Beganovic ran slightly wide at the final corner, inviting pressure from Duerksen behind. The Paraguayan re-took top spot at Turn 1 while behind them, a four-car scrap for third went the way of Verschoor, but Martí was able to pass Dunne for fourth a few corners later.
The Rodin driver made slight contact with Browning and fell behind the Hitech TGR driver on Lap 20. An attempt to re-pass Browning at the first opportunity into Turn 8 opened the door for Arvid Lindblad to take seventh from the Irishman on corner exit.
Up front, Duerksen was forced to defend the lead entering the final three laps as Beganovic remained within DRS range. Their squabbling allowed Verschoor and Martí to gain and join the lead battle.
Lap 22 of 23 and Beganovic drew alongside Duerksen, but he couldn’t make the pass stick at Turn 4. That gave Verschoor the chance to take second, but Martí got the switchback on both of them out of Turn 8 to seize second for himself.
Onto the final tour and Martí’s charge continued and with DRS, he claimed the lead into Turn 1. The AIX driver couldn’t fight back and had to defend from Verschoor, but his running wide at Turn 11 allowed the MP driver to gain second just a handful of corners from the finish.
Martí earned his first win of the year in some style, ahead of Verschoor and Duerksen, with Beganovic holding onto fourth. Oliver Goethe fitted the Soft tyres under the second Safety Car and charged through from P15 to fifth in the closing laps.
Lindblad, Villagómez and Minì completed the points in sixth, seventh and eighth places respectively.
KEY QUOTE – Josep María Marti, Campos Racing
“Super happy to win the Sprint Race here in Bahrain. It’s a circuit that has treated me very nicely in the past, and it did again today. I’m very happy, we did a perfect race given the circumstances and how the race unfolded, so very happy with it and looking forward for a very good race tomorrow.”
Breaking News
After the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race in Sakhir, AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen has been disqualified while Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne has been penalised and handed two post-race penalties.
UP NEXT
The FIA Formula 2 action continues on Sunday with what will be our first Feature Race of the year following Melbourne’s cancelled race. Who will claim victory on a Sunday for the first time in 2025?
