Dunne and Stenshorne Split Baku Poles as Rodin Sweeps Double Qualifying

Alexander Dunne took Qualifying 1 pole by 0.033s over teammate Martinius Stenshorne, who answered with Qualifying 2 pole on a 1:53.728 as Rodin Motorsport locked out both front rows in Baku’s supersized Round 12.

Baku’s one-off supersized format asked for two poles in half an hour. Rodin Motorsport answered with both of them.

Alexander Dunne claimed Qualifying 1 with a 1:55.383, just 0.033 seconds clear of teammate Martinius Stenshorne. Half an hour later, Stenshorne flipped the order in Qualifying 2 on a 1:53.728, with Dunne second again on a 1:54.173. Each pole carries two championship points under the Round 12 regulations.

How the double header works

Round 12 is the only F2 weekend of 2026 with two Qualifying sessions and two Feature Races. Qualifying 1 sets the reverse-grid Sprint and Feature Race 1. Qualifying 2 sets Feature Race 2 alone. Both 20-minute sessions ran back-to-back on Thursday afternoon at the Baku City Circuit after Free Practice, which Kush Maini had topped for ART Grand Prix on a 1:56.532.

That structure turns tenth in Q1 into Sprint pole. Championship leader Nikola Tsolov, tenth in the first session, therefore starts Friday morning’s Sprint from the front — a valuable chance before he lines up tenth for Feature Race 1.

Rodin’s street-circuit statement

The numbers leave little room for debate. Rodin filled positions one and two in both sessions. Dunne’s Q1 pole was decided by three hundredths; Stenshorne’s Q2 answer opened a 0.445s gap to his teammate and nearly half a second to Câmara in third. The Norwegian’s 1:53.728 was also more than 1.6 seconds quicker than the Q1 pole time as the street circuit rubbered in across the afternoon.

Maini converted his Practice pace into fourth in Q1 and fifth in Q2. León completed a strong Campos afternoon with third in Q1 and sixth in Q2, while PREMA’s Mari Boya climbed from sixth in the first session to fourth in the second.

Title rivals take different roads

Entering Baku, Tsolov led Câmara by seven points (177–170), with Gabriele Minì on 153 and Dunne on 139. Câmara’s P5/P3 afternoon keeps him in the thick of the points fight across all three races. Tsolov’s Q1 tenth is awkward for Feature 1 but hands him the Sprint reverse pole; his Q2 eighth locks a midfield start for Saturday’s second Feature.

Minì’s weekend already started under pressure after he was disqualified from Free Practice. Fourteenth and 16th in the two Qualifying sessions leave the MP Motorsport driver with long climbs through the Baku pack if he is to stay in the championship conversation this weekend.

Dunne, meanwhile, banks two Qualifying points plus Feature 1 pole as a platform to cut into the gap at the front. Stenshorne’s Feature 2 pole gives Rodin control of Saturday’s grid as well.

What’s next in Baku

Friday opens with the Sprint at 08:15 local time on the Q1 reverse top-10 grid, with Tsolov on pole and Dunne starting tenth. Feature Race 1 follows at 14:15, Dunne from pole ahead of Stenshorne. Saturday’s Feature Race 2, lined up from Qualifying 2, starts at 11:00 with Stenshorne on pole and Dunne alongside.

Three races. Two Rodin poles. One street circuit that rarely leaves a title fight untouched.