Joshua Duerksen wins F2 sprint race in Baku

Joshua Duerksen made history today by becoming the first driver from Paraguay to win in Formula 2 as he took his maiden win on the streets of Baku.

Finlay McSporran
Published: 19:56, 13th September 2024

It was also a first podium for Gabrielle Mini who finished 3rd on debut!

Race Report

A strong start for pole-sitter Christian Mansell saw him hold the lead as the rounded turn 1, while Jak Crawford, who started 2nd, dropped down to 4th as he was passed by Mini and Duerksen.

Mansell’s strong start saw him hold the lead during the opening laps however he couldn’t break free of Mini’s DRS. A lock up for Mansell at turn 15 put the Italian right on his tail as they went down the main straight, with Mini using DRS to take the lead one lap 7.

A huge send for Duerksen on lap 8 got him passed Mansell and up into 2nd as the Trident started to slip back.

Behind them there was a huge battle going on for 5th position, with Victor Martins getting passed Maloney for 6th on lap 11 before dispatching Maini for 5th a few laps later.

While that was happening race leader Mini was under huge pressure from Duerksen who used DRS to take the lead on lap 13 of the race, his experience proved useful as he built a gap of 2 seconds to Mini within just one lap.

Mini wasn’t the only rookie struggling however, as Mansell dropped down to 5th having been passed by Martins and Crawford who improved to the podium.

The safety car was deployed on lap 15 as the Rodin Motorsport car of Ritomo Miyata was in the barriers at turn 3. The Japanese driver was attempting to go down the inside of Dennis Hauger for P12, however he was too late on the brakes and went straight into the wall.

With just 4 laps to go Duerksen lead the filed into turn 1 as we got back underway on lap 18, as Mini locked up going through turn 1 which opened the door to Crawford who improved to 2nd.

There was plenty of action behind them as Mansell clipped the rear of Bortoleto which sent the Brazilian briefly into the barriers, however was able to continue. Amid the confusion Hitech driver Paul Aron made his way up from 10th to 6th in just a few corners.

But no one could stop Joshua Duerksen, who on the streets of Baku claimed his first Formula 2 victory in superb style. Jak Crawford claimed another podium with second whilst Gabriele Mini held off Victor Martins to finish P3 on debut by just 0.020s!

Gabriel Bortoleto finished 5th, reducing the points deficit to Hajar down to just 6.5 points at the top of the standings. Behind him came Aron, Antonelli and Mansell who finished in the points on debut.

Sprint Race Classification

Pos	Driver	Team	Time
1	Joshua Duerksen	AIX Racing	44m00.116s
2	Jak Crawford	DAMS	+3.444s
3	Gabriele Mini	Prema	+4.579s
4	Victor Martins	ART Grand Prix	+4.599s
5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Invicta Racing	+7.807s
6	Paul Aron	Hitech GP	+8.793s
7	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Prema	+9.293s
8	Christian Mansell	Trident	+13.436s
9	Kush Maini	Invicta Racing	+15.013s
10	Zane Maloney	Rodin Motorsport	+15.515s
11	Luke Browning	ART Grand Prix	+15.740s
12	Isack Hadjar	Campos Racing	+16.208s
13	Enzo Fittipaldi	Van Amersfoort Racing	+17.065s
14	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	+17.094s
15	Juan Manuel Correa	DAMS	+18.039s
16	Rafael Villagomez	Van Amersfoort Racing	+20.637s
17	Richard Verschoor	Trident	+22.828s
18	Amaury Cordeel	Hitech GP	+47.405s
19	Pepe Marti	Campos Racing	+52.191s
20	Niels Koolen	AIX Racing	+56.243s
21	Oliver Goethe	MP Motorsport	+1m37.954s
Ret	Ritomo Miyata	Rodin Motorsport