- Swede determined to bounce back as all-new venue debuts on F2 calendar
- DAMS Lucas Oil racer expecting “crazy” weekend in Spanish capital
Dino Beganovic targets a swift return to form this weekend as the FIA Formula 2 Championship throws up a completely different set of circumstances on a new street track in Madrid.
Eager to overcome a challenging event at Monza, Beganovic finds fresh confidence in the arrival of an all-new playing ground, as the recently constructed Madring circuit makes its international debut as host of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.
Going immediately from the oldest venue on the calendar to the newest, the jump from Monza to Madrid is as contrasting as it gets both in terms of history and circuit layout, offering up a clean slate of opportunities.
A 5.4 km street track, the Madring features only two comparatively short straights, with the rest of the lap made up of several interconnected, sweeping corners mainly in the high-speed spectrum.
“Madrid will be a completely different story, a track where no one has been before,” says Dino Beganovic. “We see it as a real opportunity to bounce back after Monza. A weekend like this brings everybody back to zero, and that seemed to suit us earlier in the year at Miami and Montreal (which were also new to the F2 calendar). We had a second-place finish in the feature race in Miami and were running second again in Montreal when we had a technical failure.”
The new Madrid track also features “La Monumental”, a semicircular corner spanning 550 metres and boosting a 24% banking.
“It looks like a spectacular track to be honest, I think it will be a crazy weekend,” Dino Beganovic concludes. “It kind of seems like a mix between Budapest and Jeddah. It will be a lot of fun to try it out. I really can’t wait to hit the track this weekend and grab this opportunity.”
The Formula 2 field will have just 45 minutes of practice to get to grips with the new track on Friday morning, before qualifying later in the afternoon. As always in F2, there is a sprint race on Saturday and a feature race to round out the weekend on Sunday.
TIME TABLE
FIA Formula 2 Championship
Rd. 11 – Madrid (ESP)
All times local (CEST)
Friday September 11
Free Practice: 11.05-11.50
Qualifying: 15.00-15.30
Saturday September 12
Sprint Race (23 laps): 14.15-15.05
Sunday September 13
Feature Race (32 laps): 11.25-12.30
LIVE TIMING / RESULTS
www.fiaformula2.com
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 2 Championship
After 10/14 rounds
1: N. Tsolov (BUL), Campos Racing, 177 p.
2: R. Câmara (BRA), Invicta Racing, 166 p.
3: G. Minì (ITA), MP Motorsport, 147 p.
4: A. Dunne (IRE), Rodin Motorsport, 118 p.
5: N. Léon (MEX), Campos Racing, 114 p.
—
7: D. Beganovic (SWE), DAMS Lucas Oil, 79 p.
