SAKHIR, Bahrain – Barbadian driver Zane Maloney continued his explosive start to the new Formula Two campaign when he produced a sterling effort to win the Feature Race at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.
Barbadian driver Zane Maloney celebrates his win at Sakhir.Following his success in the Sprint Race 24 hours earlier, the 20-year-old stormed from third on the grid to comfortably take the chequered flag nearly five seconds clear of the second placed Josep Martí of Campos Racing, with Paul Aron of Hitech Pulse-Eight finishing third.
Maloney enjoyed a superb start, grabbing the lead on the run down to Turn One before taking control of the encounter.
“From the test, we knew already we had very good pace since Barcelona, like I said yesterday,” said Maloney.
“But we didn’t expect to be winning two races by five seconds, that’s unbelievable. The team just gave me a great car.
“When you have days like these, weekends like these you just need to stay in the moment, but also know that there are still many rounds left and many different tracks to also perform at. I will celebrate tonight and then move on straight away to Jeddah.”
Fuelled by success in the Sprint Race on Friday, Maloney got away brilliantly, overtaking the front-row pair of Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar who collided at Turn One.
Following an intervention by the safety car, Maloney extended his lead to over a second, with Zak O’Sullivan of ART Grand Prix chasing from second and Martí down in third.
ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins’s retirement on Turn 8 on Lap 19 required another safety car but Maloney remained unfazed on resumption, building his lead to nearly two seconds to be nearly five seconds clear at the finish.
Despite the success, Maloney said he would be carried away with talk of the title, with the next race in Saudi Arabia his only focus.
“There is such a long year to go,” he pointed out.
“In terms of the Championship, I don’t think anyone could look at that right now. I am just focused on going to Jeddah and having the same experience in terms of pace.
“I know every weekend you’re not going to win two races – that is not how F2 works – but we need to take this pace over to Jeddah.
“For now, I just need to buckle down with the team. Jeddah almost is the most opposite track you can get to this, so I just need to get mentally ready to send it on the streets.”
