Joshua Dürksen won the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race in Monza with a storming drive from seventh on the grid.
A great start which saw him fourth after the opening lap put Dürksen in a great position to battle for the victory against reverse grid pole-sitter, John Bennett.
On Lap 9, Dürksen passed Bennett at the Rettifilo Chicane, the British driver seemingly not wanting to compromise a second place finish by defending the inevitable.
Speaking to InsideF2 in today’s press conference, Durksen explained his seventh F2 career win in more detail:
“It has been an amazing race. Having a win in Monza I think is always special. As I’ve said many times already, this is my favourite podium of the year. It’s an amazing view and so much history that this track has. It felt very good today, the car was strong for sure.
“I had a good start which helps a lot to just move forward and have a better position during the race. Also strategy wise I think it’s a bit better.
“I think being further back, if I hadn’t had such a good start it would’ve been more difficult to move forward. But the pace was good. I enjoyed this race and I’m very happy we could bring this win home.”
Dürksen and Invicta look to have their eyes set on a bigger points-paying prize. He will start the Feature Race second on the grid, alongside his team mate Rafa Câmara.
The Paraguayan driver explained how today he has the advantage after his team mate didn’t finish the Sprint due to contact:
“We got some very good data. That was also one of our main [objectives] for this race to gather some data for tomorrow.”
“I think we have done very good data because we have some information behind some cars, we have some good information for when we are in clean air. For sure we have a very good picture of what we need for tomorrow.”
It’s clear that Dürksen and Invicta have the pace and package to deliver a double victory weekend in Italy after his commanding performance today. InsideF2 asked Dürksen about his expectations:
“Expectations are high. I had a good Qualifying yesterday and very good pace today so, for sure, it would be nice to make the same result tomorrow as today.
“The pace was good, the start was good. As well, it’s a longer race, more laps so more opportunities to make some good moves or maybe the others make mistakes.
“Also pit stops are going to be a key thing, be it a good one or a slow one. There could be a Safety Car coming out at a good moment or a bad moment.
“A lot of things can happen tomorrow, even more than today. We’re going to still push. Nothing is guaranteed, a lot can happen but, hopefully, we can make the same result as today.”
Image: Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images
