27-07-2025
Dunne wins at wet Spa to reclaim F2 title lead
Ireland's Alex Dunne has returned to the top of the Formula 2 standings by winning the rain-hit feature race in Belgium.
Dunne had qualified on pole position at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday and the race was started behind the safety car.
However, when racing got underway the McLaren Development Driver mastered the wet conditions to win his third F2 race of the season.
British Red Bull Junior driver Arvid Lindblad was second and Czech driver Roman Stanek was third.
Dunne, 19, now leads the F2 standings by points 15 over Richard Verschoor, who failed to score along with title rival Jak Crawford.
"I had to work really hard for that one," said Dunne.
"It was really tough."
Dunne secures Formula 2 pole position in Belgium
It had been a weekend of dominance for Dunne in Belgium, who topped the practice session and qualified on pole in dry conditions by 0.421 seconds.
He gained two points of Verschoor for pole position and chipped another two points out of the Dutch driver's lead by finishing seventh in the reverse grid sprint race.
Rain hit the Belgian circuit on Sunday morning, to the extent the Formula 3 race had to be cancelled, but conditions cleared up to allow the F2 race to get under way behind the safety car.
Dunne pulled out a four-second lead once racing started and, despite a brief challenge from Japan's Ritomo Miyata, he maintained his lead for the mid-race pit stops.
His Rodin Motorsport team produced a fast pit stop to get him back into the race in fourth place, behind drivers who had yet to stop.
Dunne then produced a stunning overtake around the outside of Pouhon bend past Ollie Goethe to re-take the lead and pulled away from Stanek and Lindblad.
There was a late safety car for Sebastian Montoya, who spun at Eau Rouge with five laps remaining.
The Colombian's car was still being recovered when Goethe's engine expired with two laps to go, which meant race control red flagged the race and Dunne was able to take the chequered flag unchallenged.
It was a third feature win of the season for Dunne in his most complete Formula 2 weekend to date and he was rewarded with the championship lead.
The 11th round of 14 takes place in Hungary next weekend.
