Marcus Armstrong back on track in FIA Formula 2
Friday 27 November 2020, 7:50AM
By Mark Baker
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After a lengthy late-season break, Kiwi race driver Marcus Armstrong returns to the FIA Formula 2 Championship this weekend for the penultimate round at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain.
Armstrong has spent the time between the previous round in September at Russia’s Sochi circuit training and preparing for this weekend – and is champing at the bit to get out on track. The Championship this year had a delayed start due to the Covid 19 Pandemic and runs over 12 rounds, ending at Sakhir.
The first of two rounds at the circuit, this weekend uses the full 5.412 km layout of the challenging Bahrain International Circuit.
The race weekend will comprise a 32 lap, 173.184 km (60 minute) feature race on Saturday and a 23 lap, 124.476 km (30 minute) sprint race on Sunday. There are three separate ‘DRS’ zones where racers can take advantage of a temporary low-drag mode to challenge and potentially overtake the driver in front of them – provided they are close enough in each zone’s detection area.
The championship returns to Sakhir in early December for the final round but will use a shorter and faster 3.543 km ‘outer track’. It will be the first time this format has been used for Formula 2. In 2021, both FIA upper-tier championships will run at Formula 1 race weekends, alternating circuits in the premier category’s calendar.