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Gabriel Bortoleto made up positions in the aftermath of a late-race Safety Car to earn valuable championship points, while Kush Maini fell backwards after a strong showing in the first half of the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race.
It was an all-Invicta Racing third row for the 21-lap Baku Sprint Race with Gabriel Bortoleto starting fifth and Kush Maini alongside in sixth.
READ MORE: Azerbaijan Qualifying report
On the run down to the first corner, it was Kush who seized the advantage, getting alongside his team-mate and taking fifth place into the following turn. As a result, Gabriel was displaced down the straight and conceded positions to Zane Maloney and Victor Martins.
For the first half of the race, the field settled into a rhythm, but Maini still had to fend off the advances of Maloney and Martins behind, the latter finally finding a way past despite a valiant defence from the #9 driver.
Further back, Bortoleto began applying pressure to Maloney and on the run down to the first corner of Lap 13, he made his way up to seventh. The Brazilian’s position gain was short-lived though, as Kimi Antonelli snatched seventh from him shortly after.
At the end of Lap 15, the Safety Car was deployed for a brief two-lap intervention. On the restart, Gabriel seized his chance taking both Antonelli and team-mate Maini at the first two corners. His charge continued at debutant Christian Mansell’s expense, but the pair made contact pitching the #10 driver into the barrier. Mercifully, the car was undamaged, and he continued claiming fifth for his own.
Amidst the chaos of the restart, Kush was battling in the pack too, but he fell back to ninth behind Paul Aron, Antonelli and Mansell. On the final tour, Maloney made a move into the first corner, but Maini deftly cut back underneath him to maintain ninth at the flag.
As the race drew to a close, Bortoleto held off a charging Aron to claim fifth. Valuable points enabled him to close to just 6.5 points behind championship leader Isack Hadjar ahead of the Feature Race.
Gabriel Bortoleto
"That was a crazy race. When Kimi [Antonelli] came past, I thought that was where we’d finish, but then the Safety Car gave me a great opportunity. I’m amazed we didn’t come away from that moment in the barrier with any damage, but the car felt fine, so I pushed to keep position in the final laps. Overall, it was a good recovery and decent points for the championship. Let’s see what we can do in the Feature Race tomorrow."
SPRINT RACE RESULTS
- Started: 5th
- Finished: 5th
- Points: 4
KUSH MAINI
"A frustrating end to what was a positive race before the Safety Car. The nature of Baku means if you get overtaken by one driver, you’ll likely get overtaken by several more on the following straight if the pack is close like they are at a restart. Our pace was good so we need to carry that over into tomorrow."
SPRINT RACE RESULTS
- Started: 6th
- Finished: 9th
- Points: 0
ANDY ROCHE, TEAM PRINCIPAL
"Both drivers were strong at different stages of today’s race, so there are a lot of positives to take into tomorrow. We scored a good amount of championship points too, so overall, it was a decent day in my book. Tomorrow they hand out the big points though, so we’ll be working hard overnight to make sure we can extract the maximum out of our car on this tricky circuit."
