Kush Maini take pole in the first round F2 at Sakhir

Sakhir, 29 February 2024: Kush Maini scored his maiden pole position in FIA Formula 2 as he beat out teammate Gabriel Bortoleto to seal a P1 start for Saturday’s Feature Race.

On his final attempt in Qualifying, Maini completed a lap of 1:41.696 to go to the top of the timesheets. Bortoleto followed his teammate across the line to place second, two-tenths off the pole-winning effort.

Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar completed a lap good enough for third having led the way earlier in the session.

It was Maini who set the early pace for Invicta Racing aided by a strong middle sector, he completed a lap of 1:42.533 to lead Hauger by just 0.045s.

With 10 minutes gone, the drivers returned to the pitlane for some fresher tyres. However, that was when Campos elected to send Hadjar and Josep María Martí out on track for the first time in the session.

Hadjar then went to the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1:42.418, with Martí behind him across the line going to second, 0.021s off the Frenchman’s benchmark effort.

The rest of the field then emerged from the pit lane ahead of their final runs with Maloney going fastest. But the Bajan’s time was quickly eclipsed by the Invicta pair of Maini and Bortoleto, with Hadjar then going to third.

Maloney, and a number of other drivers including ART Grands Prix’s Victor Martins, made their second attempts at the top spot, but with the Pirelli rubber not offering more than one push lap on the abrasive Bahrain tarmac, no driver could eclipse Maini’s time.

With Invicta locking out the front row and Hadjar following in third, Zane Maloney and Dennis Hauger rounded out the top five for Rodin Motorsport and MP Motorsport respectively.

Rookies Ritomo Miyata and Zak O’ Sullivan followed for Rodin and ART Grand Prix, while Enzo Fittipaldi placed eighth for Van Amersfoort Racing.

Victor Martins qualified ninth for ART, with Taylor Barnard set to line up on pole for Friday’s Sprint Race after qualifying 10th for PHM AIX Racing.

Attentions now turns to the 23-lap Sakhir Sprint Race with lights out set to occur at 17:15 local time on Friday, March 1.