Now, here is a proper statement of intent. Martinius Stenshorne put together a stellar weekend in Azerbaijan, turning a tough run of results around and reminding everyone of his raw speed. The Rodin Motorsport driver showed brilliant form across all three days, kicking things off with a P2 in Qualifying 1 before storming to pole position in Qualifying 2 by a stunning 0.445s margin.
That speed translated into solid points right away. Stenshorne fought his way to fourth in the Sprint Race, then backed it up with a brilliant second-place finish in Feature Race 1. To be entirely fair, the final race of the weekend left a bit of lingering frustration after starting from pole.
Obviously it was good, it was a weekend where we had a lot of running as well,
During the pitstop phase of Feature Race 2, the Norwegian slipped behind teammate Alexander Dunne and Rafael Câmara. Nikola Tsolov then managed to muscle past him as well, leaving Stenshorne to cross the line in fourth. He admitted afterwards that the day's setup changes ultimately cost him a podium finish.
“Overall it's been a positive weekend,” said Stenshorne. “I think we were quick in qualifying, quick in practice, and quick in the Sprint and Feature Race. But we missed a bit today, to be honest. We made some changes that didn't fully work out. We were just lacking a little bit and then that was enough to take us off the podium. Anyway, I think we have to be happy with the weekend. A lot of points scored, moved up some positions as well in the championship, so we're pretty pleased.”
Street circuits demand constant adaptation, and Stenshorne pointed out how the rapidly evolving track surface forced the team's hand on setup. Because the venue isn't driven on constantly, the asphalt changes constantly from session to session. While the machine felt rapid in the Sprint Race, the pace slowly slipped away through Feature Race 1 and then dipped further for the final outing.
Even with those late setup regrets, the weekend was a massive statistical rebound. Stenshorne has quietly established serious consistency, scoring points in six out of the last eight races. That haul in Baku rocketed him up from 11th all the way to seventh in the Drivers’ Standings to cap off a successful trip.
“Obviously it was good, it was a weekend where we had a lot of running as well,” Stenshorne added. “There was a lot of points that we could take and we took a lot, so that was quite positive for the championship side as well. But obviously we wanted more starting first today, but anyway it was a good comeback from some difficult rounds.”
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