Alex Dunne had to settle for second place after a frantic and entertaining Formula 2 feature race at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid. With only three rounds to go, the Offaly driver remains fourth in the championship standings.
Sweden’s Dino Beganovic enjoyed a lights-to-flag victory at the Madring street circuit, making its debut this season as the new venue for the Spanish Grand Prix, but Dunne chased hard all the way before eventually losing out by seven seconds. Ritomo Miyata from Japan, who won Saturday’s sprint race, was third.
It was the fourth runner-up spot in the feature race for the 20-year-old Dunne this season, after he previously secured three successive second place positions in Montreal, Monaco and then Barcelona.
Madrid was the 11th of the 14 rounds this season, and Beganovic, of team Dams Lucas Oil, started in pole position, with Dunne of Rodin Motorsport second on the grid. After a series of early stoppages, the race was time-limited, although full points were awarded for the result, as 31 of 32 scheduled laps were completed.
Dunne kept the pressure on Beganovic, closing the gap to one second with only seven minutes of racing remaining, but the Swede responded with the fastest lap, and with that secured his first win of the season.
Dunne earned another 19 points for finishing second, bringing his overall total to 139 in fourth. Nikola Tsolov from Bulgaria continues to lead the way on 177 points, with Rafael Câmara from Brazil just seven points behind, and Gabriele Minì from Italy third on 153 points.
In the team standings, Campos Racing lead the way on 296 points, with Invicta Racing second with 260, with Dunne’s Rodin Motorsport third on 209. Next up for the drivers is a trip to Baku for round 12 in two weeks, with the two concluding rounds set for Lusail in Qatar (November 27th-29th) and then Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi (December 4th-6th).