Alex Dunne slips to fourth in F2 standings after finishing seventh in Belgium sprint race
Dunne, who will start tomorrow's feature race in pole position, was aiming to close the gap on current leader Richard Verschoor today. But his seventh-place finish in a time of 41:54.105 sees him drop from third to fourth on 110 points. The Offaly man has been overtaken by Leonardo Fornaroli who won the sprint race in 41:49.222 to put him on 114 points.
Jak Crawford is currently second on the Drivers Championship leaderboard with 116 points.
Your point scorers from an incredible Saturday Sprint at Spa! 👀✨#F2 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/NFTyK5r7GM — Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 26, 2025
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Dunne will start Sunday's feature race in pole position after clocking the fastest time in Friday morning's free practice session. He set the fastest time in qualifying as well, his best time of 1:57.151 topping the pile by more than four-tenths of second as he claims his second pole position of the season.
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Irish Examiner
13 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Dunne takes another F2 podium and narrows gap to leader
Irish racer Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport) took another podium place in this season's F2 Championship securing the runner-up spot in today's Budapest Sprint Race where the Clonbullogue teenager fought out a thrilling final lap duel with Spain's Josep Maria Marti (Campos Racing). Although Dunne remains fourth in the championship, he has narrowed a pre-race 11-point deficit to series leader Leonardo Fornaroli (Invicta Racing) to seven points. Polesitter Marti made a great start but Dunne was eclipsed by British driver Arvid Lindblad, who made it a Campos Racing 1-2. As the race progressed Lindblad closed on team mate Marti with Dunne third as the top three pulled out a gap over the chasing pack headed by Victor Martins. Although Lindblad went ahead at Turn 1 on Lap 8, Marti retook the lead on the switchback. Their duel allowed Dunne and Martins to close. At the beginning of Lap 19, Dunne, who had waited patiently before filling the mirrors of Lindblad, dived inside the Briton at Turn 1 to move into P2. Lindblad then came under pressure from Crawford as Marti and Dunne went 4.7s clear of the pack. The Safety Car was deployed on Lap 22, to allow Sebastian Montoya's car to be removed from the main straight. When racing resumed Lindblad regained third. A slight error from Marti at T5 allowed the hard-charging Dunne to within an overtaking manoeuvre as they went wheel-to-wheel on the final sector with Marti just about holding off the rapid Offaly driver as they crossed the finish line just 0.225s apart. Crawford was third. At the post race press conference Dunne said:"I think Pepe made a bit of a mistake into T5 and I kind of had my hopes up a little bit, hoping that there was an opportunity, but no, I think he defended it pretty well I tried to go around the outside of 13 and there wasn't quite enough room to make it happen, I think that's just how it goes that's racing. It was a fun battle I think I managed my tyres through the race." On regaining second place, he added: "I felt like that's something I have always been good at through the year, going in late on the brakes and making those types of moves. I felt like the pace was strong but I think Arvid was kind of pushing quite hard and being stuck in the DRS of Pepe but not quite enough to be able to overtake. To be honest, I got bored of just sitting there saving tyre the whole race so I pushed two laps to try and get close and I saw an opportunity so I just went for it." Following the conclusion of the race Arvid Lindblad and Luke Browning (who had finished fourth and fifth) both received post-race penalties dropping them to a respective tenth and twelfth. Dunne will start tomorrow's Feature Race from P9. F2 Championship Positions: 1. L. Fornaroli 127 points. 2. R. Verschoor 125 points. 3. J. Crawford 122 points. 4. A. Dunne 122 points. 5. L. Browning 113 points. 6. A. Marti 96 points.
Irish Independent
15 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Alex Dunne claims another F2 podium finish as Pepe Marti's Hungaroring sprint victory cleared after stewards' review
Marti led from the lights but was pushed all the way by Rodin Motorsport's Dunne, who mounted a late charge after muscling past Arvid Lindblad in a bold move that split the Campos teammates. The 19-year-old Offaly driver closed to within DRS range on the final lap, but Marti defended aggressively, with Dunne forced wide on the penultimate corner after a last-ditch overtake attempt around the outside. The Irishman was very unhappy in the aftermath, claiming he had been 'brake-tested' by Marti earlier behind the safety car. The Campos driver was investigated for the incident, while Dunne himself was noted for a yellow flag infringement but both drivers were ultimately cleared by the stewards. Jak Crawford completed the podium after finally getting past Lindblad in the closing laps. The American's persistence paid off after a safety car, triggered by Sebastian Montoya's stranded PREMA, bunched up the field and reignited the battle behind the leaders. Pole-sitter Roman Stanek saw his race unravel early on after contact with PREMA's Gabriele Mini, who received a 10-second penalty for spinning the Czech driver out of contention. Montoya impressed early, climbing from 21st to 14th before his retirement. Further back, Williams juniors Luke Browning and Victor Martins fought hard for fifth, while John Bennett was handed a five-second penalty for forcing Montoya off track earlier in the race. Despite crossing the line in second, Dunne was left frustrated by Marti's defensive tactics but regardless, it was another strong showing from the Irish driver as he continues to underline his growing credentials in the paddock. The result sees Dunne move joint third in the standings on 122 points, level with Crawford with Richard Verschoor a further point ahead and Leonardo Fornaroli top on 127 ahead of tomorrow's feature race.
RTÉ News
15 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Alex Dunne takes second in F2 sprint race in Hungary
Alex Dunne had to settle for second place after a thrilling finish to the Formula 2 sprint race in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday but faced a long wait to see if he remained on the podium. Josep Maria Marti (Campos) held off sustained Dunne (Rodin) attacks right to the finish line to take the victory, with Jak Crawford (DAMS) third after passing out Arvid Lindblad (Campos) on the final lap. It was another scintillating drive from 19-year-old Dunne, who almost capitalised on a late Martí error but just could not get past the dogged Spaniard. After the race though, he had to face the stewards for allegedly failing to comply with a double yellow waved flag and, also, erratic driving, but no punishment followed. Dunne will be back on the track on Sunday morning for the feature race, starting in ninth position on the grid. He's currently fourth in the overall driver standings, five points off leader Leonardo Fornaroli (Invicta). Last Sunday he was deprived of victory in the feature race at the Belgian Grand Prix after being hit with a 10-second penalty. #F2 #HungarianGP — Formula 2 (@Formula2) August 2, 2025 Dunne crossed the line first at the legendary Spa circuit to reclaim the lead in the F2 Drivers Championship, but he was later demoted for failing to engage the start set-up procedure. The penalty dropped Dunne down to 10th in the final race classifications, with Lindblad inheriting the victory.
