Victor Martins took his first F2 victory of the season in Barcelona, producing a dominant display to win the sprint race ahead of Kush Maini and Paul Aron. After the race, Martins spoke to Feeder Series and other selected media at a press conference.

By Martin Lloyd

The identities of Martins’ fellow podium-sitters changed multiple times, with track limits infringements plaguing the Frenchman’s rivals. The ART driver, however, experienced no such issues, feeling that the win was an important step after a difficult start to his season.

“For sure today was a great day. We started to understand a few things, we still need to work on a lot of things, but I think we know the direction to take.”

Martins was imperious in Catalunya. He started second in the reverse-grid race, having qualified ninth, immediately passing the polesitter Maini for the lead. After that, Martins never looked to be in danger of losing the victory. 

The rest of the field struggled with the combined worries of mounting tyre wear and track limits violations, with the latter earning Martins’ primary chaser, Ritomo Miyata, two five-second penalties. Such concerns never looked to be an issue for Martins, who romped home with a final post-penalties margin of 4.4 seconds.

It has been a difficult season so far for Martins, as the pre-season title favourite languished in 20^th before his Barcelona performance. The 23-year-old felt that a good result was possible after a positive Friday showing, when he qualified ninth.

“From yesterday, I think we have seen some good things,” he said. “In the past in some early qualifyings, we were just ‘there’ and not understanding why we were so far [from the front of the grid]. I would say that we are starting to see some good things on data, and I’m starting to show that I’m confident in the car.”

Despite their status as reigning F2 champions, ART have struggled to adapt to the new Dallara car that was introduced at the start of the season. The team have started to show progress in recent rounds, with Zak O’Sullivan’s win in Monaco a key sign of their improvement. While the timing of the virtual safety car may have been a stroke of luck, ART were in a position to capitalise upon it – something that may not have been possible earlier in the season. 

Martins was pleased to reaffirm his abilities, with seventh in the Melbourne sprint race representing his best finish of the season before the victory.

“We are getting there, and the season is still really long, and this result is something that we need for confidence and I need for myself, to see that I’m capable of doing things right, from the start to the finish, and show the team that I’m still here.”

Martins’ commanding performance is further evidence of ART progress, as he finished ahead of Kush Maini and championship leader Aron. Jak Crawford took fourth for DAMS ahead of Maini’s Invicta teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto, in fifth and the sixth-placed Campos of Isack Hadjar. Miyata was relegated to seventh place following his penalties, with a similar fate befalling Juan Manuel Correa.

The American-Ecuadorian had been promoted to third, following Miyata’s penalty – only to be demoted to eighth himself, after incurring a five-second track limits penalty.  Outside of the points, penalties were also awarded to Dennis Hauger, Franco Colapinto, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Rafael Villagómez, Zane Maloney and Roman Staněk. 

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency