- Swede adds to F2 points tally in soaking Feature Race
- Sets fastest lap of the race in Belgian downpour
Dino Beganovic added to his FIA Formula 2 Championship tally on a typical Ardennes weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, setting the fastest lap of Sunday’s Feature Race on his way to the points in torrential rain.
Round nine of the F2 season featured emblematic Spa conditions, a dry beginning to the weekend followed by a heavy downpour on Sunday.
The event got off to a difficult start for Beganovic, as a set-up issue left him unable to conduct any representative running in Friday’s sole practice session.
Heading largely blindfolded into the afternoon qualifying session, Beganovic wound up in the midfield in 13th place, a tenth behind Hitech team-mate Luke Browning around the 7.004 km lap.
“The issue in practice meant qualifying was effectively our first session of the weekend, which is never ideal,” says Dino Beganovic. “That left us on the back foot and we were missing a bit of lap time.”
In Saturday’s Sprint Race, still on a dry track, Beganovic however showed improving pace, setting the second-fastest lap of the encounter as he went from 13th to ninth by the chequered flag.
However, a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits ultimately dropped him down the order to 16th, his fate further exacerbated by a safety car finish that kept the field tightly packed across the line.
Sunday morning then saw a drastic change in conditions, with torrential rain soaking the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and triggering the Feature Race to be started behind the safety car.
Once action got underway, Beganovic drove a measured race in highly limited visibility, pulling off a series of brave overtaking moves around the time of his mandatory pit stop. The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy racer was rewarded with P9* at the end, scoring two championship points and picking up an additional one for setting the fastest lap of the race.
“I’m pretty pleased with the Feature Race, at least the majority of it,” Dino Beganovic concludes. “I had a great first stint, making up a bunch of places, but then after the pit stop for some reason the grip just went away on the second set of tyres. That was a bit of a shame and quite unusual, so we need to analyse what actually caused it.
“Still, I think it was a positive race overall and we got the fastest lap as well. We will press on and hopefully we can have more of a straightforward weekend next time.”
Beganovic and his Formula 2 rivals are back on track in a week’s time (August 1-3) at the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary.
* Following the conclusion of the meeting, a pair of stewards’ decisions saw Dino ultimately classified seventh in the feature race. Results and standings have been updated accordingly below.
RESULTS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
Rd. 9 – Spa-Francorchamps (BEL)
Race 1 (Sprint Race)
1: L. Fornaroli (ITA), Invicta Racing
2: V. Martins (FRA), ART Grand Prix
3: G. Minì (ITA), PREMA Racing
—
16: D. Beganovic (SWE), Hitech
Race 2 (Feature Race)
1: R. Stanek (CZE), Invicta Racing
2: R. Miyata (JPN), ART Grand Prix
3: L. Browning (GBR), Hitech
—
7: D. Beganovic (SWE), Hitech
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
After 9/14 rounds
1: L. Fornaroli (ITA), Invicta Racing, 125 p.
2: R. Verschoor (NED), MP Motorsport, 122 p.
3: J. Crawford (USA), DAMS Lucas Oil, 116 p.
4: A. Dunne (IRE), Rodin Motorsport, 114 p.
5: L. Browning (GBR), Hitech, 113 p.
—
11: D. Beganovic (SWE), Hitech, 50 p.
