Ralph Boschung has opened his Formula 2 season in style with a commanding victory in Saturday’s Sprint race in Bahrain.
He headed Dennis Hauger to the flag by more than 10 seconds after 23 laps of racing, with rookie Victor Martins third.
Having started 17th, Jack Doohan recovered to 11th, locked in a battle group that included Juan Manuel Correa and Jak Crawford in the closing laps.
Boschung started on the reverse grid pole, holding the advantage from second-placed Roman Stanek who bogged down at the race start.
Stanek fell to fourth by the opening corner, which became fifth when Martins swept around the outside at Turn 11 before a mistake at the end of the lap allowed Hauger through.
The Czech driver’s slide continued when Theo Pourchaire found a way through, the Frenchman having risen from 10th to sixth in short order.
Martins’ march forward continued as he moved by Ayumu Iwasa at Turn 1, only for the Japanese driver to take the spot back at Turn 6.
By half distance, Boschung had sprung clear of the pack, holding a three-second advantage over Iwasa and Martins.
The Frenchman finally found a way through to second on Lap 13, making the move at Turn 1, the pair squabbling for half a lap before the rookie finally prevailed.
Iwasa would also fall victim to Hauger, the Norweigen going on to chase down Martins to claim second on the penultimate lap.
Pourchaire came home fifth, one spot ahead of Jehan Daruvala, while Kush Maini and Enzo Fittipaldi rounded out the points-paying places.
Victory for Boschung sees the Swiss driver now lead the championship with 10 points, with Hauger second and Pourchaire third.
The Feature race follows on Sunday, starting at 13:20 local time (00:20 AEDT), with Pourchaire to start from pole.
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