Invicta Racing shows promise amid challenging Montreal weekend

With the top 10 positions reversed for Saturday’s Sprint Race, Joshua started from fifth while Rafael, who had received a three-place grid penalty for both races after impeding Alex Dunne in Qualifying, started from 12th. 

Thanks to an excellent launch off the line, Joshua immediately vaulted into the podium positions on Lap 1, overtaking Rafael Villagómez for third before passing Noel León for second after making light contact in Turn 2. 

After settling into an early rhythm, Joshua ran deep into the final chicane when defending from León on Lap 2 and slipped back to third, although he immediately set out to reclaim the position and fought back up to second on Lap 4. 

Rafael, meanwhile, having struggled with traction at the start and falling down to 14th, dispatched of Kush Maini and moved up to 12th following a spin for John Bennett in Turn 10 which caused a Safety Car. 

With the field bunched up, Joshua resumed the race in third after running deep into the last corner for a second time but was informed of a five-second time penalty for his earlier contact with León on the opening lap. 

After getting overtaken by Villagómez, the Paraguayan set out to recover but was pushed wide on the exit of Turn 10 when battling Martinius Stenshorne and slipped to sixth but moved back into the top five by overtaking Nikola Tsolov using DRS. 

During his recovery, Joshua’s race came to an early end on Lap 18 when he was rear-ended and tipped into a spin by Dunne, with the incident causing another Safety Car and leaving Rafael as Invicta Racing’s sole challenger.  

Rafael resumed the race in 11th when the action restarted on Lap 21 and moved into the top 10 when Villagómez hit the barriers in Turn 4 before gaining another position by passing Roman Bilinski. 

The Brazilian finished ninth on the road but was promoted to seventh to score two championship points, with both Dunne and Tsolov receiving post-race time penalties. 

RESULTS

• Rafael Câmara: P7 (2 points)

• Joshua Dürksen: DNF (0 points)

Mixed weather conditions created an unpredictable final race on Sunday, with damp patches and inconsistent rainfall around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve making grip levels difficult throughout the Feature Race.

Starting on the Supersoft tyres, Rafael lined up in fifth following his Qualifying penalty while Joshua started from ninth, with his unserved five-second time penalty from the Sprint Race being converted into a three-place grid penalty.

The Invicta Racing pair had a measured start to run eighth and ninth respectively over the opening laps, with Rafael applying heavy pressure on Gabriele Mini before diving up the inside of the Italian into Turn 1 to claim seventh.

When Laurens van Hopen found the barriers, the Safety Car was deployed and after a brief restart on Lap 7, immediately returned to the track when Emerson Fittipaldi Jr crashed in Turn 1 on cold tyres.

The second neutralisation provided Invicta Racing with an opportunity to pit both drivers and Rafael rejoined in ninth and in a net top five position while Joshua resumed in 18th after unfortunately losing time during the double-stack sequence.

When the race was resumed on Lap 12, Joshua immediately started to carve his way back through the field, overtaking both Goethe and Nico Varrone in quick succession before inheriting 15th thanks to a spin for Tsolov.

Having shown immense confidence under braking into Turn 1, Rafael dived up the inside of Mari Boya to take sixth on Lap 15, re-passed Mini and set out to chase down Villagómez for fourth.

Rafael repeated his Turn 1 overtaking manoeuvre on Villagómez on Lap 17 although light contact between the pair resulted in suspension damage for the Mexican and caused a brief Virtual Safety Car period.

Now within touching distance of the podium, Rafael continued to press forward but ran wide at the final chicane on Lap 18 before his race unravelled on Lap 23, with a spin in Turn 2 following contact with Bilinski ending his hopes of a points finish.

Joshua, meanwhile, quietly worked his way into the top 10 and following a late Safety Car on Lap 27, caused by a stoppage for Dino Beganovic, resumed the Feature Race in fifth.

The 22-year-old overtook Maini to move into fourth on the restart but was unable to make further progress when an accident for Goethe triggered a final Safety Car period, with the race ending under controlled conditions.

After taking the chequered flag in fourth, Joshua was ultimately classified in 11th following a post-race penalty for earlier contact with Ritomo Miyata. Rafael, meanwhile, finished 14th.

RESULTS

• Joshua Dürksen: P11 (0 points)

• Rafael Câmara: P14 (0 points)

RAFAEL CÂMARA

“On the whole, it’s been a promising weekend but it’s disappointing to come away with just two points. Starting outside of the top 10, I think we extracted the most we could in the Sprint Race, but in the Feature Race, I think we had the pace to be on the podium. I felt very confident in the car, especially during the second stint, but after the spin in Turn 2 points were out of reach.”

 JOSHUA DÜRKSEN

“It’s been a challenging weekend in Montreal. From practice onwards, I felt very comfortable in the car and our performance in Qualifying put me in a good position to challenge in both the Sprint and the Feature Race. In the Sprint, I was making good progress until I was hit by Dunne, but because I wasn’t able to serve the five-second time penalty, it was converted into a grid penalty for the Feature Race. This meant that I had a little bit more work to do on the Sunday, but the car felt competitive and I think fighting forward from 18th after the pit stop to the top five shows that. The timing of the last Safety Car was unfortunate, and it’s frustrating to not come away with any points after the form we showed, but I’m looking forward to putting that energy in Monaco next month.”

JAMES ROBINSON, TEAM PRINCIPAL

“Overall, a promising but slightly frustrating weekend here in Canada. Looking across each session, our pace as a team was undeniable but unfortunately, Saturday and Sunday never quite came together. Thanks to their efforts in Qualifying, Rafa and Joshua were in a good position to capitalise in both races, but the penalty for Rafa did leave us with some work to do. In the Sprint Race, Joshua delivered an excellent drive to be in podium contention and deserved far more for his efforts, and Rafa kept his nose clean to be in a position to pick up points when it mattered most. The changeable weather on Sunday produced another chaotic Feature Race, and despite it being stop-start, both drivers showed that they had the pace to be on the podium. Rafa performed some excellent overtakes during the race and after losing time it the pit phase, Joshua pieced together a clinical run into the top 10. It’s disappointing to leave Montreal with just two points, but we’ll regroup and come back stronger for Monaco.”

• Invicta Racing: P4 (52 points)

• Rafael Câmara: P2 (36 points)

• Joshua Dürksen: P10 (16 points)

• CIRCUIT: CIRCUIT DE MONACO

• ROUND: 4

• DATE: 6-7 JUNE