2 days ago
- Automotive
- Irish Independent
Ireland's Alex Dunne demoted from Belgian F2 Grand Prix race win to ninth after being hit with ten-second penalty
The Offaly native had earlier moved back to the top of the title race after securing what seemed to be a commanding feature race win in the wet at Spa-Francorchamps circuit for Rodin Motorsport.
Dunne, who had dominated qualifying in dry weather on Friday, had delivered a composed drive in challenging conditions to take the chequered flag and went through the podium presentation before being summoned to the stewards.
An investigation then found that the Irishman had failed to activate the start set-up procedure at the beginning of the formation lap. The ruling stated that Dunne had checked with his team but been advised it wasn't necessary with the race starting behind the safety car due to the heavy rain.
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"Following the conclusion of Sunday's Spa-Francorchamps Feature Race, Rodin Motorsport's Alexander Dunne has been penalised,' the ruling stated.
"After the race, Car 17 was referred to the Stewards by the Technical Delegate for an alleged breach of Article 1.6.1 FIA Formula 2 Technical Regulations, after failing to engage the start-up procedure,
"A defined set-up procedure activation must be used during all formation starts and race starts and Car 17's data shows that the driver did not engage the starting procedure.
"The Stewards then spoke to a team representative and the driver and having considered the matter extensively elected to give Dunne a 10-second time penalty in accordance with the FIA F2 penalty guideline. This means he loses the Spa Francorchamps Feature Race victory."
With his main championship rivals starting down the grid, Dunne had made the most of his pole position advantage when the rolling start eventually got the action underway.
The McLaren junior managed the early laps well, building a comfortable lead before being called into the pits as his wet tyres began to degrade. Upon rejoining, he came under immediate pressure from Invicta Racing's Roman Stanek, but defended strongly to retain his position as effective race leader.
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The 19-year-old then found himself behind MP Motorsport's Ollie Goethe, who had yet to pit, but made a superb overtake around the outside to set up what looked like a straightforward run to the finish.
However, a late-race safety car bunched up the field with just five laps remaining after Sebastian Montoya aquaplaned and spun across the track before stalling. A further incident behind the safety car when Goethe's engine blew led to the race being red-flagged and declared with one lap to go, confirming Dunne as the winner, only for the result to be later overturned.
Red Bull Junior Arvid Lindblad was initially promoted to the race win from second until falling foul of the stewards himself where a tyre pressure issue led to his disqualification, meaning Czech driver Roman Stanek was declared the winner from his initial third place.
The amended result means Dunne remains fourth in the standings, 11 points behind new leader Leonardo Fornaroli after other title rivals Richard Verschoor and Jak Crawford both failed to score.
There are now five rounds remaining in the season with Dunne returning to action next weekend at the Hungaroring in Budapest where he'll look to put today's disappointment behind him as the title battle heats up.
