Jack Doohan has suffered a disappointing start to his Formula Two campaign in Bahrain, having to battle back just to finish 10th after a slight car clash ruined his hopes.
The 19-year-old son of motorcycling great Mick Doohan had been looking in good shape to land his maiden F2 win in the opening feature race of the season on Sunday until an accident as he emerged from the pit lane blew his chance.
Virtuosi Racing's teenage hope, who's eyeing the same title that his fellow Australian Oscar Piastri won last year, had qualified superbly on Friday to earn pole position.
And though he was overtaken at the start, he retook the lead and was in a strong position after his 15th lap pitstop.
But Doohan came into slight contact with the back of the ART Grand Prix car of French driver Theo Pourchaire as he rejoined the race.
It damaged his own car which forced a swift return to the pits for the damaged front wing to be changed.
When he had another pit stop shortly afterwards, he'd gone from first to last in the space of just a few laps and his chance was completely gone.
He showed considerable resolve to fight back to 10th and grab a consolation point to go with the two he'd grabbed for qualifying first.
Yet it was Pourchaire who took his third F2 victory after the chaotic race which had featured two safety cars, coming home ahead of New Zealander Liam Lawson and Estonian Juri Vips.
