A racing star fought back to achieve a top-10 finish during a chaotic FIA Formula 2 Championship event.
After starting the month with his best weekend of the 2026 season at Monza, Salisbury-based John Bennett was determined to make his mark on the Baku street circuit in Azerbaijan from September 24 to 26.
Despite being removed from both races in Madrid due to collisions earlier in the season, Bennett impressively finished in the top 10.
The weekend's action started on Thursday, with free practice and two qualifying sessions.
Bennett ended practice just outside the top 10, and finished 15th and 17th in the qualifying sessions.
The first two races took place on Friday, beginning with a 21-lap sprint race.
After a chaotic start, Bennett found himself at the back of the pack following contact from Joshua Durksen's Invicta.
The appearance of the safety car provided an opportunity for Bennett to stage a remarkable recovery.
He passed Cian Shields, Rafael Villagomez, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Colton Herta to reach 14th place, before the safety car was deployed again with five laps to go.
After a manic restart saw cars scattered across the road following a collision at Turn 1, Bennett skilfully dodged through the chaos, avoiding a spinning duo directly in front of him.
He continued his charge to the end, overtaking Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak at the chequered flag to secure a 10th place finish.
The second race of the day saw Bennett starting on the super soft Pirelli tyres.
He had a strong opening stint, improving his position by three places to 12th.
However, he was caught up in a multi-car collision at the restart, ending his race prematurely.
The final race on Saturday morning also saw Bennett's hopes dashed, as he was spun out at the first left-hander.
Reflecting on the weekend, Bennett said: "We were very unlucky in Madrid, and sadly it was much of the same this time for us.
"Our pace was definitely there, as shown in the first race, but Baku is one of those circuits where it's very easy to be accidentally caught up in other people's incidents."
Despite the setbacks, Bennett remains optimistic for future races.
"We can be proud of how we recovered in the sprint though, and we could have gone even further if it had been a longer race I think.
"We've got plenty still in our locker, the sprint performance showed our race pace was amongst the strongest on the grid, so we are optimistic going into the next round."
The next event in the FIA Formula 2 Championship calendar is scheduled to take place in Qatar from November 27 to 29.
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