Alex Dunne regains Formula 2 Championship lead with two great performances in Spain

JOB DUNNE: Formula 2 championship leader Rodin Motorsport's Alex Dunne (left) in the paddock before the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Pic: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire.

Offaly racer Alex Dunne has regained the lead of the FIA Formula 2 Championship with two great performances in Spain over the weekend.

The Clonbullogue driver was outstanding in Saturday's Sprint Race where he came from 19th on the grid to claim second.

It quickly erased last week's disappointing outing in Monaco, where the 19-year-old McLaren development driver was blamed for first corner collision that later resulted in a ten-place grid penalty for the sprint race in Spain.

Beginning the Barcelona race from P19, he made up five places on the opening lap and later enjoyed a slice of fortune when the safety car was deployed. Dunne and Dutch driver Richard Verschoor pitted for soft tyres and on the re-start they carved their way through the pack.

With the tyre advantage, Verschoor took the chequered flag, a mere 0.3 seconds ahead of Dunne, who moved back into the championship lead - four-points clear of British driver Luke Browning.

In Sunday's feature race, Rodin Motorsport driver Dunne started from P8 and eventually finished fifth as Briton Arvid Lindblad converted his pole position into a maiden Formula 2 feature race victory - and a home win for his Spanish team Campos Racing.

Dunne annexed a bonus point for registering the fastest lap of the race, his next outing is at the Austrian GP at the end of the month.

In championship terms, he's three points ahead of Verschoor with Lindblad, five points further behind in third.

Dunne revealed that he was subjected to a barrage of online abuse following the Monaco incident, that forced him to delete all of social media content from his phone.