- Hitech racer’s chances derailed by qualifying mistake
- Feature race charge yields fastest lap but ends in retirement
Dino Beganovic endured a weekend to forget in Monaco, leaving the principality with flashes of speed but no points to his tally in round five of the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy racer had his weekend heavily compromised by a mistake in the crucial qualifying session, as a lock-up caused him to run off the track at St. Devote in the closing stages of the short, group-split session.
The delay meant Beganovic lost out on what would have been his final two flying laps, restricting him to a lowly 18th on the grid for both races of the weekend.
In a typical Monaco-style sprint race, there was only so much Beganovic could do around the narrow street track, coming home 15th with overtaking virtually impossible.
In a much wilder feature race on Sunday, Beganovic initially got caught up in a multi-car pile-up at the original start, although sustained no damage to his Hitech car and was able to take the eventual restart.
Deploying an alternative strategy by starting on the supersoft tyres, the Swede pitted early to try and undercut his rivals by reeling off a series of fast laps in clean air. Beganovic duly went on the attack, setting the fastest lap of the race.
In his pursuit for a potential points finish, however, he brushed the wall at St. Devote, damaging his rear suspension and crashing into the barriers at Casino Square a few corners later. Apart from some initial knee pain, Beganovic escaped unhurt and is already looking ahead to the next round in Barcelona in just one week’s time.
“A disappointing weekend,” says Dino Beganovic. “I wasn’t confident with the car, and at a track like this, confidence is everything. The mistake in qualifying really set the tone for the rest of the weekend. It’s basically impossible to overtake around Monaco, so we knew we had to do something special. The sprint race was just about testing a few things for the future, and then today we tried the alternative strategy, pitting early.
“In order for that to work, I knew I had to push to the absolute limit. Unfortunately I brushed the barrier, damaged the left rear suspension, and the next time I turned right (Casino Square) it broke and I crashed. I’m fine, but it’s been a tough weekend and now we need to regroup and recharge for Barcelona.”
The F2 field will be back on track in Spain next weekend (30 May – 1 June) to complete a triple-header of events to start out the European part of the campaign.
RESULTS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
Rd. 5 – Monaco (MCO)
– Race 1 (Sprint Race)
1: K. Maini (IND), DAMS Lucas Oil
2: G. Minì (ITA), PREMA Racing
3: L. Browning (GBR), Hitech
—
15: D. Beganovic (SWE), Hitech
– Race 2 (Feature Race)
1: J. Crawford (USA), DAMS Lucas Oil
2: L. Fornaroli (ITA), Invicta Racing
3: S. Montoya (COL), PREMA Racing
—
DNF: D. Beganovic (SWE), Hitech
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
After 5/14 rounds
1: L. Browning (GBR), Hitech, 70 p.
2: A. Dunne (IRE), Rodin Motorsport, 67 p.
3: L. Fornaroli (ITA), Invicta Racing, 64 p.
4: R. Verschoor (NED), MP Motorsport, 59 p.
5: J. Crawford (USA), DAMS Lucas Oil, 56 p.
—
9: D. Beganovic (SWE), Hitech, 29 p.
