- Swedish rookie backs up Qatar pace at Abu Dhabi season-finale
- Overcomes electronics issue to score in both races at Yas Marina
Dino Beganovic underpinned his end-of-year adaptation to the FIA Formula 2 Championship with another strong performance at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi season-finale, picking up his first F2 podium in only his third race in Formula 1’s main feeder series.
After immediately making his mark on a headline-grabbing Formula 2 debut in Qatar last weekend, qualifying fourth and taking a top five finish in his first-ever F2 Feature Race, Beganovic continued to run up front as racing resumed at the spectacular Yas Marina Circuit just a few days later.
The rookie laid down another top five qualifying lap to go fifth fastest, just 0.161s off pole position, and then battled back from a poor start in Saturday’s Sprint Race to bring home his DAMS Lucas Oil car in fourth place. Following a post-race disqualification for another driver, that later became third, retroactively netting Beganovic his first Formula 2 podium in only his third ever race in the category.
“I’m delighted to pick up my first F2 podium in the Sprint Race here,” says Dino Beganovic. “I had a poor start but was able to recover well and be both aggressive and defensive when I needed to. Really happy with that drive.
“We then showed good pace again on Sunday, but unfortunately we had a technical issue that cut out the steering wheel electronics and affected the gear-changes in the second half of the race. It cost quite a lot of time and a couple of positions, and I think P7 in those conditions was still a very decent result.”
With a total of 22 points to his tally, the Swede is the highest-scoring of all drivers who joined the championship on a cameo basis in the final part of the campaign.
“I’ve had a great time in these two weekends in Formula 2,” concludes Dino Beganovic, who led the DAMS Lucas Oil charge in qualifying and both races this weekend. “It’s been a valuable learning experience and performance-wise I think I’ve shown a point. I want to thank DAMS Lucas Oil for giving me this opportunity and I wish them all the best for the future.”
RESULTS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
Rd. 14 – Yas Marina Circuit (UAE)
Race 1 (Sprint Race) – full results
1: J. Martí (ESP), Campos Racing
2: G. Bortoleto (BRA), Invicta Racing
3: D. Beganovic (SWE), DAMS Lucas Oil
Race 2 (Feature Race) – full results
1: J. Dürksen (PRY), AIX Racing
2: G. Bortoleto (BRA), Invicta Racing
3: R. Verschoor (NED), MP Motorsport
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7: D. Beganovic (SWE), DAMS Lucas Oil
