An exciting new era for Kiwi-company Rodin Cars’s UK motorsport division [formally Carlin Rodin] in Formula 2, has begun with a pair of dominant victories at Bahrain International Circuit, with Barbadian Zane Maloney delivering them success in both the Sprint and Feature races.
Ritomo Miyata, the 2023 Super Formula Champion, finished ninth in both outings to secure valuable championship points for the Kiwi outfit.
The results see Rodin Motorsport leave the first of fourteen rounds at the top of the team’s standings with a nine-point advantage over Campos Racing, while their duel winner holds a 12-point buffer over Pepe Marti in the Drivers Championship.
“From the test, we knew already we had very good pace since Barcelona… but we didn’t expect to be winning two races by five seconds; that’s unbelievable,” said Maloney. “The team just gave me a great car.
“When I say team, I mean, of course, Rodin but also everyone else surrounding me; add management and my coach, Shaun.
“I was training as hard as I can during the off season. Of course, you do that every year, but I do feel like I am a step above fitness-wise and mentally as well.
“A lot of sim days and just really looking back at last year and through Christmas, I like watching the races back on F1TV. Honestly 100s of hours just watching the races and seeing what I could have done better, what everyone else did good vs bad, you learn so much from that.
“Generally, I think that’s what it is and then just a small mindset change. Going with a bit more confidence in myself and know that I can go and do it. That obviously showed this weekend, but there’s still so much work to do this year.”
Miyata and Maloney were immediately on the pace in Bahrain, making a statement with solid results in the first practice session of the year, the latter completing 13 laps for a best time of 1:45.588, one-tenth faster than his fourth-placed teammate.
That pace transpired into qualifying, with Maloney qualifying third and Miyata fifth for the Feature, giving them grids eight and six for the Sprint.
‘The Boy from Barbados’ took just six laps to move from eighth to second, with part of that interrupted by a virtual safety car. He took the lead off Jak Crawford two laps later before cruising to a comprehensive 5.4-second victory.
Miyata narrowly missed out on points, finishing just four-tenths behind Dennis Hauger.
A rocket-like launch off the second row on soft tyres gave Maloney the lead of the 32-lap Feature on Saturday, with the #5 Rodin Motorsport entry avoiding an incident between front-row starters Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar.
From here, the 20-year-old remained unheeded, surviving a Safety Car restart and a change to hard tyres for a 4.6-second win over Marti.
Miyata and Hauger again battled for eighth, with the latter succeeding by just two-tenths.
The FIA Formula 2 Championship returns to action this weekend in Saudi Arabia, with Maloney’s eyes firmly focused on the event.
“In terms of the Championship, I don’t think anyone could look at that right now,” he said.
“I am just focused on going to Jeddah and having the same experience in terms of pace. Of course, 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.”
Header Image: FIA Formula 2 Championship.
