Dino Beganovic secured an important victory to start out the System 2 Azerbaijan weekend, securing back-to-back victories within the collection.
The Swedish driver secured the race lead early, not letting his rivals get an opportunity to problem for the highest spot as he shortly constructed a snug benefit on the entrance, with Laurens Can Hoepen and Alex Dunne rounding up the rostrum.
Championship chief Nikola Tsolov began from reverse grid pole place, with TRIDENT’s Van Hoepen alongside him. Marking his greatest begin of the weekend, Tsolov was desirous to make up for a disappointing weekend on the Madring.
Behind them was final 12 months’s Dash race winner Beganovic, aiming for back-to-back victories.
Additional again within the discipline, Championship contenders Rafael Camara and Gabriele Mini discovered themselves in sixth and 14th, respectively.
Lights out
Because the lights went out, Tsolov had an ideal begin, instantly defending his pole place into the primary flip. Nevertheless, it wasn’t a perfect begin for Van Hoepen, who struggled off the road and dropped down to 3rd, with Beganovic stealing a spot.
Early drama unfolded as Invicta’s Camara locked up and made contact with Mari Boya forward of him. The Brazilian continued racing; nonetheless, he was given a 10-second time penalty for inflicting a collision and taking out one other driver.
Boya took no additional half within the Dash, focusing his consideration on the primary of two options later this afternoon.
The Security Automobile peeled into the pits on the finish of Lap 3, as Tsolov as soon as extra led the sector away. The Bulgarian continued his stint on the entrance of the sector, as additional behind Camara, made his well beyond Sebastian Montoya for fourth place.
Beganovic takes the race lead on Lap 6, crusing previous his Crimson Bull junior rival on the pit straight. By the tip of the lap, Beganovic was unable to interrupt the DRS; nonetheless, his expertise in main a dash race across the streets of Baku helped lengthen his lead.
On Lap 9, Camara, who was difficult Van Hoepen for third, dropped all the way down to fifth after making a mistake, permitting Dunne to safe fourth place. In the meantime, additional again within the discipline, Mini discovered himself solely a place up from his beginning grid slot. Nevertheless, with robust tempo, the Italian regarded prone to break into the highest 10.
Mid race struggles for Tsolov
Van Hoepen moved previous Tsolov on Lap 10 after the Bulgarian made a mistake, dropping him to 3rd. Tsolov suffered a snap of oversteer via Flip 16, permitting the Dutch driver to sail previous on the run all the way down to the principle straight. However Tsolov’s woes didn’t finish there as Dunne instantly utilized strain to his rival, closing in quick on an overtake.
On Lap 13, Dunne moved previous Tsolov to safe the ultimate place on the rostrum. Tsolov then complained of getting “no rear tyres” as his championship rival Camara additionally swept previous. Nevertheless, the transfer carried little significance, with the Brazilian set to serve a 10-second penalty on the finish of the race.
Additional again within the pack, Mini’s cost via the sector continued, because the Italian was locked in an intense battle for ninth with Roman Bilinski.
Tsolov’s tough Dash race continued as Martinius Stenshorne sailed previous the championship chief, dropping him to sixth. With the sector bunching up on the rear of the points-paying positions,
Tsolov regarded more and more prone to fall utterly out of the factors regardless of having began from pole place.
Late Security Automobile
On Lap 18, the Invicta of Joshua Duerksen discovered itself within the wall of Flip 1, bringing out a late Security Automobile and erasing the hole his teammate Camara had constructed for his penalty.
As the sector made their approach round below the slower situations, the Brazilian was referred to as into the pit lane to serve his penalty.
The Security Automobile peeled into the pits with only one lap remaining, organising a one-lap shootout to the end in Baku. Beganovic led the sector away, however chaos shortly unfolded at Flip 1 as a number of vehicles grew to become concerned in a multi-car pile-up.
Ollie Goethe made contact along with his teammate, though each drivers have been capable of proceed. Ritomo Miyata and Noel León additionally made contact, with Câmara caught up within the aftermath.
Whereas the Brazilian prevented hitting one other automobile, the incident left his cost in the direction of the highest 10 trying like a distant dream. Fittipaldi was one other casualty of the chaos, discovering himself within the wall as the ultimate lap unfolded.
On the entrance, Beganovic held his nerve to safe one more race victory in Baku, warding off late challenges from Van Hoepen and Dunne to take the chequered flag. Additional again, regardless of his earlier struggles, Tsolov recovered strongly to complete fifth.
READ MORE: System 2 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Dash Race Outcomes