Oliver Rowland got his 2017 FIA Formula 2 campaign off to an excellent start with a podium finish in Bahrain (April 14-16).
Free Practice & Qualifying
It was a strong start to the weekend for Rowland, as the 24-year-old BRDC Superstar posted the fastest time in practice, and qualified eighth
Oliver Rowland: “In practice things felt good and I was happy heading into qualifying. The track conditions were very different and I had a couple of issues carried over from practice, which meant we were eighth. It wasn’t a disaster, but I knew we could have been higher.”
Feature & Sprint Race
Rowland fought through the field to fifth in Saturday’s Feature Race, putting him fourth on the grid for the sprint. The 2015 Formula Renault 3.5 champion battled hard throughout the 23-lap race to come home third, giving DAMS their first podium of the F2 era.Having finished just outside the points in 11th on Saturday, Latifi capped off a strong weekend for DAMS, as he stormed through the field to cross the line in a fine fourth. This podium and a fifth-placed-finish in the Feature Race the day before left Rowland in 3rd postion in the Drivers’ Championship.
Oliver Rowland: “In the first race I climbed to fourth, but the tyres went off slightly towards the end and finished fifth. I didn’t have the best of starts on Sunday, but fought back really well and ended up on the podium, which is a great result and I’m happy looking ahead to Barcelona.
François Sicard, Managing Director: “Practice went really well, but qualifying was obviously not what we expected and it was disappointing not to be higher up. Oliver had a strong first race; he made the difference on track and fifth is great. Oliver did a fantastic job to get a podium on Sunday. Overall it was an encouraging start and the points were good, but we are hoping for more in the coming races.”
Round 2 of the 2017 Formula 2 Championship will take place in Barcelona (May 12/14).