Alex Dunne Claims Third on Monza Formula 2 Grid

Alex Dunne will start the Formula 2 feature race at Monza from the second row after securing third place in Friday’s qualifying session.

The Offaly driver completed his fastest lap in 1:31.472 for Rodin Motorsport, finishing 0.146 seconds behind pole-sitter Rafael Câmara.

Câmara led an Invicta Racing one-two with a time of 1:31.326. Joshua Dürksen claimed second in 1:31.383, just 0.057 seconds ahead of Dunne.

Dunne recovers from difficult opening runs

Third place represented an impressive recovery after Dunne encountered problems during his early qualifying attempts.

His first serious effort was compromised by a lock-up at the Ascari chicane, sending the Rodin car across the gravel. A subsequent run ended when he went too deep into the opening corner and abandoned the lap.

That left the Irish driver needing to respond while the order continued to change around him. Dunne eventually put together a lap good enough for fourth without receiving the full benefit of a tow around the high-speed Italian circuit.

The final runs began with just over five minutes remaining. Dunne initially moved into second place before Dürksen completed his lap and pushed him back to third.

Strong pace throughout Friday

Dunne’s qualifying performance followed an encouraging free-practice session in which he set the fastest time. Although practice cannot perfectly predict qualifying pace, it demonstrated that Rodin had arrived at Monza with a competitive package.

The nature of the qualifying session made Dunne’s third place particularly valuable. With two early attempts disrupted, there was little room left for another error when the field switched to fresh tyres for the closing minutes.

Instead, Dunne delivered when the pressure was greatest and placed himself in contention for a significant haul of championship points.

The Irishman entered the Monza weekend fourth in the Formula 2 standings. With the season approaching its decisive stage, converting his front-row pace into a clean feature race will be the next priority.

Monza’s long straights and heavy braking zones can produce unpredictable racing, but third on the grid gives Dunne a strong platform from which to attack Sunday’s main event.