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Invicta Racing continued its strong run of form at the Madring, with Rafael Câmara securing third in Qualifying before Joshua Dürksen recovered from 16th on the grid to finish fourth in the Feature Race
Fresh from consecutive victories at Monza, Invicta Racing entered Qualifying with high aspirations for the FIA Formula 2 Championship’s debut at the Madring in Madrid, Spain.
Rafael Câmara and Joshua Dürksen took to the circuit at the beginning of the 30-minute session, although the action was repeatedly interrupted as the field battled to complete representative runs.
Just six minutes into Qualifying, the Red Flag was shown when Kush Maini spun and hit the barriers on the approach to Turn 17.
When the session resumed, Rafael and Joshua returned to the circuit, with Rafael setting an initial banker to move into sixth before a second stoppage was triggered by an accident for Nico Varrone.
This interruption put Joshua on the back foot, with the Paraguayan unable to complete his initial run, although he responded once the session resumed by moving into the top five with his first representative run at the halfway point.
As the session entered its closing stages, both Invicta Racing drivers returned to the track for their next runs, only for a third Red Flag to be deployed after John Bennett crashed in Turn 11.
With only five minutes remaining when the session resumed, the field had just one opportunity to improve, and Rafael delivered with a 1:44.853 to surge into third despite running deep into the final corner.
Joshua also continued to push in the closing minutes, but a fourth Red Flag was triggered by a crash for Colton Herta on the exit of Turn 19, bringing Qualifying to an early conclusion.
Rafael secured third at the end of the session, while Joshua was classified 16th.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P3 (1:44.853)
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Joshua Dürksen: P16 (1:46.483)
With the top 10 positions from Qualifying reversed for Saturday’s Sprint Race, Rafael lined up eighth while Joshua started from 16th.
Rafael made a strong getaway and immediately moved up to seventh by overtaking Roman Bilinski, although the Safety Car was deployed at the end of Lap 1 following an accident involving Maini and Varrone.
When the Sprint resumed, Rafael maintained seventh while Joshua, who had been tagged by John Bennett on the opening lap, held 14th.
As the battle for fourth intensified between Noel León and Nikola Tsolov at mid-race distance, Rafael steadily closed in on Martinius Stenshorne and applied sustained pressure on the Norwegian.
A spin for Tsolov on Lap 14 promoted Rafael to sixth, putting the Brazilian within striking distance of the top five.
Rafael continued to pressure Stenshorne throughout the remaining laps but was unable to find a way through, crossing the line in sixth to secure three points. Joshua, meanwhile, completed the Sprint Race in 14th.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P6 (3 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: P14 (0 points)
Rafael secured a strong getaway to maintain third at the start of Sunday’s Feature Race while Joshua held 16th, although the action was soon neutralised by an early Safety Car when Maini hit the barriers on Lap 2 following contact with Cian Shields.
The race was resumed at the end of Lap 6 and settled into a steady rhythm, with Rafael continuing to hold third while Joshua gained four positions to move into 12th as drivers ahead made their mandatory pit stops.
Struggling for pace on his race-starting Softs, Rafael completed his mandatory stop at the end of Lap 13 and rejoined in 12th, but found himself vulnerable on cold tyres and was overtaken by Mari Boya during his out lap.
Now running 13th, Rafael immediately set about recovering lost ground and applied pressure to championship rival Tsolov before making an opportunistic move to overtake the Bulgarian on Lap 17. He then set his sights on Oliver Goethe ahead.
Unfortunately, Rafael made side-so-side contact with Goethe at the start of Lap 18 which pushed the German into the barriers in Turn 2, with the incident triggering a second Safety Car and resulting in a 10-second time penalty for the Invicta driver.
The neutralisation, however, opened an opportunity for Joshua, who was running on the alternate strategy and had steadily climbed up to fifth. He made his mandatory pit stop behind the Safety Car and with minimal time loss, rejoined in fifth on the Soft compound.
When racing resumed, Joshua maintained fifth while Rafael immediately started his recovery by overtaking Boya for ninth on Lap 24.
With the race running to time due to the earlier interruptions, Joshua applied pressure to Emerson Fittipaldi Jr and completed a daring move for fourth during the closing stages.
Joshua held fourth to the chequered flag to secure 12 valuable championship points, while Rafael crossed the line in ninth, with the application of his penalty classifying him in 10th, adding a further point to Invicta Racing’s tally.
RESULTS
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Joshua Dürksen: P4 (12 points)
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Rafael Câmara: P10 (1 point)
RAFAEL CÂMARA
“It was a positive weekend overall, especially considering this was our first time racing at the Madring. The track is very technical, and I was happy to put the car in third in Qualifying. We made some good progress in the Sprint to finish sixth. In the Feature Race, the tyre performance was quite different between the two compounds. It was a difficult race to manage, but we had good pace and were fighting for a good result up until the incident with [Oliver] Goethe. Despite that, we scored some good points and reduced the gap to [Nikola] Tsolov in the Drivers’ Championship, which is the most important thing we can do at this stage of the season. There are plenty of positives to take from this weekend and we go to Baku ready to fight for more.”
JOSHUA DÜRKSEN
“Overall, I’m satisfied with our performance in Madrid. I felt very comfortable in the car, and while I think we could have achieved more, the bad luck we experienced in Qualifying put us on the back foot at the very start of the weekend. Starting from 16th, there was very little we could do in the Sprint. However, with some smart strategy calls, we knew we had a good opportunity to move forward in the Feature Race. By running on the alternate strategy, we were able to run long into the race and took advantage of the final Safety Car to gain a free pit stop and recover to fourth. Another strong weekend from the team, and I’m looking forward to continuing the season in Baku.”
JAMES ROBINSON, TEAM PRINCIPAL
“All round, it was a strong performance from the team this weekend. As a new circuit, the Madring presented a completely new test for everyone on the grid, and its technical nature meant we expected the weekend to throw up some unexpected moments and challenges. That started in Qualifying, with four Red Flags in just 30 minutes keeping us on our toes. Rafael put himself in a strong position with third, while Joshua was incredibly unlucky with the timing of the stoppages. In the Sprint, we were able to make some good progress on Rafael’s side to finish sixth, and in the Feature Race, we actively remained flexible with our strategy throughout. The team made some excellent calls, and Joshua put together a very strong recovery drive to finish fourth after starting from 16th. While we missed out on the podium, it was an encouraging weekend overall and one we can build on when we head to Baku later this month.”
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Invicta Racing: P2 (260 points)
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Rafael Câmara: P2 (170 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: P7 (90 points)
