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Invicta Racing secures solid points haul at the Hungaroring, as Rafael Câmara returns to the FIA Formula 2 podium
With overtaking traditionally coming at a premium around the Hungaroring, Friday’s 30-minute Qualifying session carried added significance as the FIA Formula 2 field battled for track position for the Sprint and Feature Races.
Rafael Câmara initially headed out on the Medium compound tyre before returning to the pit lane to switch to the Softs, while Joshua Dürksen’s first flying lap was compromised after the Paraguayan ran wide in the final corner.
With 20 minutes remaining, Joshua completed his first representative lap of the session to move into the top 10 as the track continued to evolve.
During the middle phase of the session, Rafael showcased his true pace by surging to the top of the timesheets with his first run, before improving his benchmark by a further half-a-tenth with his next attempt.
As the closing stages approached and the final runs began to unfold, Joshua delivered a significant improvement to move to the top of the timesheets by more than two-tenths, although the order continued to change.
Kush Maini edged ahead of Joshua in the closing minutes before Rafael, who had slipped to eighth, produced a superb final effort to climb up to second place, missing out on pole position by just a tenth of a second.
A late improvement from Noel León ultimately relegated Joshua to fourth, with Invicta Racing nonetheless completing another competitive Qualifying session.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P2 (1:29.013)
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Joshua Dürksen: P4 (1:29.106)
The top 10 Qualifying positions were reversed for Saturday’s Sprint Race, with Rafael lining up in ninth while Joshua started from sixth on the grid.
Both Invicta Racing drivers secured a good getaway, with Rafael taking the inside line into Turn 1 to emerge in sixth.
Having made a clean start, Joshua unfortunately lost ground after running wide in Turn 2, dropping to ninth in the opening exchanges.
As the Sprint settled into a rhythm, both drivers remained firmly in contention within a tightly packed DRS train covering the top nine.
Rafael steadily closed in on Nico Varrone in the battle for fifth, while Joshua applied sustained pressure on Kush Maini, on the verge of breaking into the points.
The complexion of the race changed on Lap 21 when Nikola Tsolov and Sebastián Montoya collided at Turn 1 – an incident which promoted Rafael to fourth place and moved Joshua up to seventh.
During the closing laps, Joshua came under increasing pressure from León and defended resolutely but was eventually overtaken when the Mexican pushed him wide on the exit of Turn 2.
Rafael crossed the line in fourth to secure four points while Joshua, who initially took the chequered flag in eighth, was promoted to seventh due to a five-second time penalty for León.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P4 (4 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: P7 (2 points)
Lining up on the first and second rows for Sunday’s Feature Race, both Invicta Racing drivers experienced a poor getaway, with Rafael slipping to third after being overtaken by León off the line while Joshua fell to sixth.
As the field settled into an early rhythm, Rafael immediately applied pressure to León in the battle for second, while Joshua returned to the top five by overtaking Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.
After starting on the Soft compound, Joshua’s tyres started to fade during his opening stint and the Paraguayan relinquished fifth place to Inthraphuvasak on Lap 14 before making his mandatory pit stop for Hard tyres on Lap 16.
Rafael, meanwhile, elected to extend his opening stint and moved up to second when León pitted for fresh tyres moments before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed on Lap 17 following a stoppage for Rafael Villagómez in Turn 12.
The timing of the neutralisation was advantageous for León, who was able to minimise the time lost during his pit stop.
After continuing to hunt down race leader Maini, Rafael pitted on Lap 21 to rejoin in a net third and, armed with fresh tyres, resumed his pursuit of the leaders.
The Brazilian spent the remainder of the race applying sustained pressure on Maini for second, with both drivers steadily reducing the gap to León.
Joshua, meanwhile, returned to the top five at the end of the pit window but came under pressure during the closing stages, eventually being overtaken for fifth by Inthraphuvasak on Lap 34 before Dino Beganovic and Nikola Tsolov found a way through in the final laps.
Rafael crossed the line in third, just four tenths of a second behind Maini, to secure his fifth FIA Formula 2 podium of the season, while Joshua completed the weekend with an eighth-place finish.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P3 (15 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: P8 (4 points)
RAFAEL CÂMARA
“Overall, there are plenty of positives that we can take away from this weekend. Because it’s so difficult to overtake at the Hungaroring, Qualifying was one of the most important sessions of the weekend and the work we did on Friday put us in a good position to challenge on Saturday and Sunday. With the DRS train, the Sprint was a little bit boring, but I was happy with the result – fourth is our best Sprint result of the season. The slow getaway put us on the back foot in the Feature Race and the timing of the Virtual Safety Car was unfortunate, but our pace was strong all day. While it’s a shame to miss out on the win, it feels good to come away with another podium – scoring big points consistently is the most important thing we can do at this stage of the season.”
JOSHUA DÜRKSEN
“The car felt very competitive this weekend, and I feel like we’re continuing to make some good progress. I made a small mistake in Turn 2 at the start of the Sprint which unfortunately cost us track position and limited our potential, but after the slow start to the Feature Race, I think we did well to recover to the top five. In the last stages of the Feature, I was struggling with the tyres which meant that we lost some ground, but we held on to score points. Looking at the weekend, I think there were a few points that we left on the board, but overall, it’s another positive step. With six points finishes in the past seven races, I’m building consistency – the next step is to push for bigger points after the Summer break.”
JAMES ROBINSON, TEAM PRINCIPAL
“Another strong team performance this weekend, with two double points finishes and our seventh podium of the season. With the progression we’ve experienced over the past couple of rounds, we’ve been able to build up some positive momentum, and I think we were able to capitalise upon that in each session. Both Rafa and Joshua were in good form and, thanks to their efforts, we’ve been able to move up to second in the Teams’ Championship, which puts us in an excellent position heading into the Summer break. We now have a gap in the schedule to rest and reset, but I’m already looking forward to building upon our momentum at Monza in September.”
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Invicta Racing: P2 (187 points)
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Rafael Câmara: P3 (145 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: P11 (42 points)
