AIX Racing’s Joshua Dürksen handled a late Safety Car restart well to take his maiden FIA Formula 2 race win in the Baku Sprint.
The Paraguayan made a strong start and methodically made his way from third to first in the 21-lap contest, beating DAMS’ Jak Crawford.
Completing the podium was PREMA’s debutant Gabriele Mini after a strong maiden race in F2.
Trident’s F2 rookie Christian Mansell lined up on the reverse grid pole position, joined on the front row by Crawford.
Mansell’s fellow Formula 3 graduate debutants Mini and Luke Browning lined up third and 11th for PREMA and ART GP respectively.
Invicta’s Gabriel Bortoleto was well-poised concerning the title fight, starting from fifth with Campos’ Isack Hadjar down in 20th.
Mansell got a strong launch from pole position on Lap 1 of 21 with Mini following him to pinch second from Crawford.
Crawford’s launch was poor and Dürksen pinched third from him on the opening lap.
Rodin’s Zane Maloney was a hard charger early on, battling the likes of Bortoleto, Victor Martins and Kush Maini over fifth place.
Maini led that train of cars behind the top four across the start/finish line on Lap 3 as the batter up front remained tight.
Mansell was doing a good job of keeping Mini at bay through the DRS zones with the Italian doing the same over Durksen.
Crawford meanwhile was a semi-distant spectator in fourth.
The tight, twisty corners and long DRS zones kept the pack tight through the early laps.
By Lap 6 the top-10 down to PREMA’s Kimi Antonelli was covered by approximately five seconds.
Change at the front came a lap later as Mini out-braked Mansell into Turn 1 to take the lead.
Mansell then lost second to Dürksen into Turn 1 on Lap 8 and there was further movement throughout the top-10.
Maloney pipped Martins for sixth as Antonelli and Browning swapped places twice in the battle for ninth.
The battle for victory looked set to be contested between Mini, Dürksen and Mansell.
The leading trio crucially escaped the DRS clutches of fourth-placed Crawford at half-race distance.
On Lap 11, Martins and Maloney continued to scrap over sixth with the former taking the initiative into Turn 3.
Maloney then had to contend with Bortoleto on Lap 12 as Antonelli took ninth off of Browning into Turn 1.
Meanwhile, Dürksen was all over Mini’s rear wing.
The AIX driver kept the pressure up to take the lead at the start of Lap 13 as Martins took fifth from Maini and Bortoleto poached seventh from Maloney.
Maloney continued to slide down the order as Antonelli passed him down the start/finish straight on Lap 14.
Dürksen’s pace out front was impressive with the leading gap growing to 3.6s on the 14th tour of the Baku City Circuit.
The leading rookies were struggling to keep pace at this stage.
This was evident as Mansell lost out to Crawford and Martins at Turn 1 on Lap 15.
Antonelli was working hard to charge through the field, pipping seventh from Bortoleto.
Ritomo Miyata triggered the Safety Car moments later as he collected the barriers at Turn 3.
Replays showed the Rodin driver made a failed attempt at passing Dennis Hauger, out braking himself on the dusty inside line to end his race early.
The Safety Car pulled into pit-lane at the end of Lap 17 and Dürksen led the field to green for a four-lap dash.
Dürksen held the lead, but Mini lost second to Crawford.
Intense scraps were ongoing behind with Bortoleto tagging the wall mid-battle with Mansell.
Antonelli, Maini and Maloney all fought over the same segments of tarmac and the chaos allowed Paul Aron to elevate himself to sixth.
Mansell lost another position on Lap 19 with Antonelli passing him into Turn 1.
Dürksen crucially broke the DRS of Crawford with two laps to go as he strived to clinch his first win of the year.
Mini, a further 2.3s back was clinging onto a debut podium with Martins close behind as Bortoleto continued running in fifth.
Dürksen was delighted as he crossed the start/finish line for the final time to take his maiden Formula 2 win on the streets of Baku.
Crawford was dismayed over team radio, ruing a tyre-saving strategy that came up short.
Mini just held onto third over Martins with Bortoleto completing the top five.
Aron came home sixth with Antonelli and polesitter Mansell taking the final points on offer in the Sprint.
Maini and Maloney, high-place runners early on, fell to ninth and 10th by the chequered flag.
