- Swede struggling for speed in Saudi Arabia
- Eyes forward as improvement targeted for European leg of campaign
Dino Beganovic endured a weekend to forget in Round 3 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship in Saudi Arabia, the Swede uncharacteristically unable to score a point throughout the event.
Struggling for straightline speed along the ultra-fast Jeddah Corniche circuit, Beganovic never truly featured during a challenging meeting.
Despite qualifying just half a second off pole on his first-ever visit to the Saudi street track, Beganovic was restricted to grid slots in the midfield for both races of the weekend, eventually finishing 15th and 13th respectively.
“It’s been a very tough weekend here in Jeddah,” says Dino Beganovic. “We have just been lacking straightline speed, which makes it virtually impossible to put up a fight on a high-speed track like this. I gave it 100 % on every lap but in the end, 13th was the best we could muster. It’s obviously nowhere near where we think we should be.
“We have a good idea of what the issue is, and the team is pushing hard. The good thing is we have a little break coming up which will allow us some time to fix it. Hopefully it will be all sorted by the start of the European leg and we can be back where we belong.”
The outcome in Saudi Arabia sees Beganovic slip to ninth in the Formula 2 standings. The next round of the championship takes place at Imola, Italy, on May 16-18.
RESULTS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
Rd. 3 – Jeddah (SAU)
– Race 1 (Sprint Race)
1: A. Lindblad (GBR), Campos Racing
2: J. Martí (ESP), Campos Racing
3: A. Dunne (IRE), Rodin Motorsport
—
15: D. Beganovic (SWE), Hitech
– Race 2 (Feature Race)
1: R. Verschoor (NED), MP Motorsport
2: J. Crawford (USA), DAMS Lucas Oil
3: V. Martins (FRA), ART Grand Prix
—
13: D. Beganovic (SWE), Hitech
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
After 3/14 rounds
1: R. Verschoor (NED), MP Motorsport, 53 p.
2: J. Martí (ESP), Campos Racing, 41 p.
3: L. Fornaroli (ITA), Invicta Racing, 40 p.
4: A. Dunne (IRE), Rodin Motorsport, 35 p.
5: L. Browning (GBR), Hitech, 33 p.
—
9: D. Beganovic (SWE), Hitech, 12 p.
