Motorsport: Alex Dunne keeps momentum building with another podium finish

Campos Racing's Nikola Tsolov (left), Invicta Racing's Rafael Camara (second left) and Rodin Motorsport's Alex Dunne (right) on the podium after the FIA Formula 2 Championship feature race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Pic: David Davies/PA Wire.

Irish driver Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport) continued his momentum in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with another second-place podium in the Feature Race, as he benefited from a post-race penalty that demoted Bulgarian Nikola Tsolov, who had crossed the line in second place. 

Dunne, who had originally finished third, was promoted to second behind race winner Brazilian Rafael Camara (Invicta Racing). F2 Championship leader Gabriele Mini was third with Tsolov demoted to fourth.

From P2 the Offaly driver led the race until he pitted on Lap 13 but a superior race strategy from the Invicta racing outfit saw Camara secure his first F2 victory, crossing the line some ten seconds ahead of Tsolov (Campos Racing) as Dunne completed the podium that was subsequently amended. 

Dunne took the lead as he headed Turn 1 with Mexican Rafael Villagómez seizing third followed by Tsolov and championship leader Italian Gabriele Mini. 

Oliver Goethe, who began from the pit lane after his car stalled on the start line stopped on the exit of the pit lane that forced the deployment of the Safety Car.

When racing resumed entering Lap 4, Dunne reacted well and moved half a second clear of Camara. However, by Lap 9 Camara appeared to be quicker than the Clonbullogue driver forcing him to defend the lead into Turn 1.

Then, on lap 13 the Rodin team called Dunne for a change of tyres, Camara stayed out until Lap 22 in what proved to be a strategic move. 

Three laps previous, Dunne and Mini began to hit traffic on Lap 19 as Camara continued to extend his lead on his first stint on the Soft tyres. 

By Lap 21 Dunne was up to eighth. When Camara pitted, Tsolov took the lead while Dunne and Mini battled for fourth on the track.

As the race progressed Camara, with a ten lap tyre life advantage, began to chase down a quartet headed by Dunne. By Lap 26 Camara slipped past Villagómez to slot into third with Mini just over a second ahead. 

A lap later Camara was into second and used DRS to overtake Mini, turning his attention to Dunne - two seconds ahead.

Meanwhile, Tsolov was gaining ground after he fitted Soft tyres, he was seventh with ten laps remaining. Up front on Lap 30 Camara passed Dunne down the main straight into Turn 1. Tslov was still on the move and into sixth - ten seconds off the race lead.

Entering Lap 30 and down the main straight Camara overtook Dunne. At that point, Tsolov was up to fourth and still setting his sights on further progress. That came as he went past Mini and then Dunne, whom he passed with three laps remaining. 

To his credit, Dunne didn't give up second place without a fight as both displayed great racing skill. Dunne managed to keep Mini in his mirrors to take the final spot on the podium to continue his good run that, following Tsolov's penalty, gave him his third second-place Feature race finish in succession.

Dunne said: "I knew going into the race that beating Rafa (Camara) was going to be really hard. I think my only opportunity really was to have a good start, get past him on lap one and then just try and hang on for dear life, more or less. I think we were starting to build a bit more momentum. We've had three podiums in a row now in the Feature Races, which is nice. So I think we're building a little bit of consistency and we're starting to bring home points all the time, which is nice." 

He added: "I tried my best to just look after the tyres and manage the pace. So yeah, I think coming into this weekend, I think Barcelona is probably one of our weaker tracks usually during the year. So to still come away with what we have, I'm not too disappointed."

In Saturday's Sprint Race, Dunne finished eighth taking the final championship point on offer. The revised championship positions has Mini (86 points) still ahead from Tsolov (80 points), Camara (69 points) and Dunne (67 points).

In motorcycling, Inniscarra's Ted Brady (Suzuki GSXR Turbo 1300) beat fellow Cork rider Coachford's Kieran O'Driscoll (Suzuki GSXR 1000 Turbo) in the West Cork Motor Cycle promoted Halfway Drag Race. 

Brady defeated another Cork rider, Stephen Daly (Suzuki GSXR 1000), in his semi-final, and O'Driscoll beat Limerick's Karol Davern (Suzuki GSXR 1300 Turbo) in the other semi-final. 

Brady's winning time for the quarter-mile race was 9.475s.