Alex Dunne produces stunning Formula 2 drive in Barcelona to regain championship lead
The Offaly native was among seven drivers eliminated from the main race in Monaco last weekend as he was involved in a significant collision on the opening corner.
Rodin Motorsport's Dunne was given a 10-place grid penalty for the sprint race, and a further three-place grid penalty after running into the back of another car when entering the pits during Friday's free practice session.
That meant he would have to start Saturday's race in 19th place but he produced another remarkable drive to climb to second, finishing just behind MP Motorsport's Richard Verschoor.
His runners-up place in Spain now moves the 19-year-old to the top of the standings with 76 points ahead of Sunday's feature race, where he will have that aforementioned three-place grid penalty.
Dunne is just four points clear at the top of the leaderboard, just ahead of Luke Browning (Hitech TGR) on 72 points.
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Extra.ie
6 days ago
- Extra.ie
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Irish Daily Mirror
7 days ago
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Evan Ferguson backed to be 'big hit in Serie A' by Ireland legend
Evan Ferguson can prove the doubters wrong by taking the Premier League by storm when he eventually returns from Italy. That's the view of Republic of Ireland legend Richard Dunne who feels Ferguson's 'brave' loan move to Roma will be the making of him for club and country. And Dunne points to Arsenal's new €73m recruit Victor Gyökeres as a point in case, considering how the Swede journeyed around to find his form before making it big. Ferguson, 20, has made an instant impact at the Rome giants, smashing six goals in four pre-season appearances going into tomorrow's friendly with Everton. And while four of those came in one game against a lowly Serie D team, Dunne insists that shouldn't matter, as it's all about Ferguson rediscovering his scoring touch. Dunne told Mirror Sport: "I think it's really brave of him to go off, especially when you don't know the language and it's a different culture. Hopefully it's the right move. 'The start he's had has been brilliant. He probably looked at the West Ham move and thought it was the right one. Graham Potter was there and he felt he'd get opportunities but the Premier League has become a place where you need to be proven to get those chances. "Clubs don't have the time to take chances on players. Going to Roma he will get the chance to play every week, playing in big games and in European competitions. He will play with more freedom, where he's one of the main men in the team. It will really benefit him. 'He had niggles and injuries for the last 18 months so hopefully he's going into a season fresh, fully fit and excited about the challenges ahead of him. This can be the making of him and get him back to where he was 18 months ago,' added Dunne, an ambassador for the Irish online casino affiliate Roma's Evan Ferguson celebrates scoring a goal (Image: ©INPHO/Matteo Ciambelli) Arsenal new boy Gyökeres turned into a goal machine for Sporing Lisbon last season, scoring 57 goals for both club and country. But the one-time Brighton player wasn't always living it up in his career. Gyökeres, 27, had to find himself on loan at Swansea and Coventry, before joining the Sky Blues permanently. Out of sight, out of mind, it was there that he rediscovered his scoring touch before landing his move to Portugal. And that's why Dunne feels it's important that everyone takes a step back to remind themselves of just how young Ferguson is. "He had a few bad games and was almost written off, certainly by the English media where it's 'he's not good enough for the Premier League',' said the ex-Manchester City ace. "Gyokeres comes to Arsenal for €70-odd million and he's had to fight away in the lower leagues for a period, not getting games at Championship and Premier League clubs. He went away and made his name in Portugal. Now he's the best player in the world by all accounts! Evan just needs the opportunities. Richard Dunne, seen here in his Manchester City days up against Craig Bellamy of Blackburn Rovers (Image: ©INPHO/Getty Images) 'It may not be 25-goals this season, but as long as he's learning and improving, eventually you're going to see the quality we've all seen since he was a young lad. That's still in there and it will just take time to become the top striker we think he can become.' And Dunne continued: 'It's about getting back on the market, getting goals and getting his confidence up. I'm excited to watch him as it's going to be a really good challenge. If he can reproduce the form he showed in his early days at Brighton, he will be a really big hit in Serie A.' And Dunne has no doubt that an in-form Ferguson will boost Ireland's cause going into the World Cup campaign with September qualifiers against Hungary and Armenia. Portugal are also in the group and the Boys in Green will qualify for the 2026 finals if they finish in top spot, while second place will guarantee a playoff. Dunne said: 'When I played in the Irish team when we had Robbie Keane up front and the impact it has when you have a well-known centre forward up top is huge. The opposition have to take an extra man out to keep them quiet and their focus becomes a little more about that striker and not the rest of the team. If Evan starts making his way around Europe and starts to become that striker that opposition teams fear, he can be that catalyst for Ireland.'
Extra.ie
06-08-2025
- Extra.ie
Dunne reflects on Henry handball and THAT Russia performance
Richard Dunne had plenty of standout moments throughout his footballing career. Whether it was captaining Manchester City or leading Ireland to the European Championships with his no-nonsense defending, Dunne reached heights that have been somewhat lacking for the Boys in Green since his retirement. However, one of the most disappointing nights of his career is one that Ireland fans remember all too well. A videograb of Thierry Henry's handball that led to France's goal against Ireland in the World Cup play-off second leg in 2009. Pic: Sky Sports In November 2009, Irish hearts were broken by the left hand of Thierry Henry. After Ireland forced France to extra-time on their own turf, a place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup seemed a real possibility against all odds. However, with the match looking like it could head to penalties, a moment that has lived in infamy ever since occurred. When a long ball into the Irish box was slightly overhit and heading out for a goal-kick, Thierry Henry slipped into a blind spot for the referee, blatantly controlled it with his hand and tapped it across for William Gallas to head home. Despite the disbelief from Ireland's players, the referee was none the wiser and the tie finished 2-1 to France on aggregate. Dunne was of course in the penalty box when the incident occurred and he has reflected that while anger and disappointment were the predominant feelings at the time, ultimately they just had to get on with it. Ireland were left in disbelief after the goal. Pic: Laurent ZABULON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Speaking with bookmaker Betfree, he said: 'It was just disappointment. You know that a decision has gone against you so there is a bit of that (robbed feelings), but as professional players you deal with it and move on. 'Of course it keeps getting brought up, a bit like Diego Maradona's handball against England, but the players move on and in the heat of the moment you're annoyed and angry but you have to play every game the Saturday afterwards. 'It is tough to take but throughout the course of your career, some will go for you and some will go against you, it's just the way it is.' Although the France result felt like such a low point at the time, a couple of years afterwards, Ireland fans got to witness one of Dunne's highest rated performances on the international stage. In September 2011, Ireland visited Russia in a UEFA European Championship qualifier and never has a goalless draw been remembered like this one. Russia bombarded the Irish box with crosses and shots all game and were simply left stunned by how the ball never made it through to the back of the net. A major reason why it ended this way was Richard Dunne. Dunne's replacement shirt against Russia became iconic. Pic: David Maher / SPORTSFILE Dunne finished the match wearing an iconic blank jersey that had to have the number five drawn on it with marker after his original shirt was bloodied following one of his many challenges. He drew the 'Iron Curtain' across Ireland's goal and with the help of Shay Given, his defensive heroics earned an invaluable point that ultimately led Ireland to Euro 2012. When asked if he knew what an immense performance he was putting on at the time, Dunne remarked 'probably not' and added that while as a player you have a feeling if you're playing well, it was 'just a 0-0 draw in Russia' at the end of the day. He said: 'It was good and it's nice that it's something to be remembered by and I've obviously still got the scars from it. 'It's just of those things that follows you around I suppose.' Dunne's performance is remembered every year. Pic: INPHO/Donall Farmer One of the standout moments of the match was Dunne's unbelievable goal line clearance in the first half. Reflecting on it, he continued: 'It is funny, like every year it comes up and people show little clips of it. 'It's good to show my son and let him see it and stuff like that but sometimes it happens and you're just in the right place at the right time and it just happened on a couple of occasions that night. 'I think it's tough to really understand it. It's just one of those things that happened and you're really proud of it. 'It's just a nice memory to have.'
