All images ©: Dutch Photo Agency
Invicta Racing resumed its 2026 FIA Formula 2 season in Miami – the home of Invicta Watch Group – with Rafael Câmara returning to the Feature Race podium while team-mate, Joshua Dürksen, secured back-to-back points finishes.
With ambient temperatures of 32°C and track temperatures of 58°C, Florida’s baking sun was beating down on the Miami International Autodrome as the Invicta Racing duo of Rafael Câmara and Joshua Dürksen took to the track to set the grid for Formula 2’s North American debut.
Displaying competitive pace, Rafael was at the top timesheets at the end of the first set of runs, with Joshua joining his Invicta Racing team-mate inside the top 10, ranking seventh.
In their second attempt, both Rafael and Josha improved – although a handful of laps from their competitors shuffled them down the order, with Joshua seventh again and Rafael second, just 0.033 seconds adrift of pole position.
The final minutes of the session saw Martinius Stenshorne grind to a halt at Turn 16 which prevented Rafael and Joshua from completing their third and final runs, leaving the pair second and seventh for Invicta Racing’s first race weekend on home soil.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P2 (1:39.921)
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Joshua Dürksen: P7 (1:40.208)
With the top 10 from Qualifying reversed for Saturday’s Sprint Race, Joshua started from fourth and secured a strong getaway to immediately overtake Oliver Goethe for third. Rafael, who lined up in ninth, settled into 10th on the opening lap.
Keeping pace with the battle for the lead, Joshua overtook Laurens van Hoepen for second on Lap 5 and immediately set out to chase down Nikola Tsolov but returned to third after making a small mistake on Lap 6.
Facing growing pressure from behind, the Paraguayan defended his place on the podium valiantly from Nico Varrone and Alex Dunne, but was ultimately overtaken by Dunne on Lap 19, falling to fourth.
In the final run to the chequered flag, Joshua was unfortunately overtaken by Varronne to finish fifth, scoring four points, while Rafael completed the top 10 after maintaining position throughout the race.
RESULTS
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Joshua Dürksen: P5 (4 points)
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Rafael Câmara: P10 (0 points)
With thunderstorm warnings looming over the circuit, Sunday’s Feature Race was brought forward by several hours and held in wet conditions, as the Miami International Autodrome hosted a dramatic and interrupted contest from start to finish.
From second on the grid, Rafael initially lost out to Martinius Stenshorne at the start, while Joshua made early progress by fighting from seventh up to fourth by the end of Lap 1.
An opening-lap collision between Tsolov and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak at Turn 1 brought out an early Safety Car and, when the race was resumed, the Invicta Racing drivers moved up to second and third as Stenshorne served a stop-go penalty for a starting procedure infringement.
The return to action was short lived, however, as Goethe snapped into the barriers exiting Turn 19 to trigger a brief Virtual Safety Car (VSC) period. When racing resumed on Lap 7, Rafael and Joshua started to duel for second, with the Brazilian defending from his team-mate.
Another interruption soon followed on Lap 10 when Dunne crashed out to cause a second Safety Car period. Invicta Racing reacted immediately by bringing Rafael into the pits for a fresh set of Wet tyres, while Joshua stayed out to inherit the lead on track.
A quick stop from the team proved to be critical and allowed Rafael to rejoin in the net lead of the race after jumping polesitter, Kush Maini, in the pit sequence.
Due to repeated interruptions, the race soon became time-limited. Joshua led the field to green on Lap 13 by managing the restart expertly, opening an immediate 1.5-second advantage over Colton Herta behind.
Yet another Safety Car on Lap 14 afforded Joshua the opportunity to pit for a new set of Wet tyres, rejoining in eighth while Rafael moved into the lead, stretching his advantage during the restart before another VSC and subsequent Safety Car erased the gap again.
With just five minutes remaining, racing resumed for a final sprint to the flag. Rafael continued to defend superbly, setting the Fastest Lap. On Lap 23, however, he ran wide exiting Turn 14, allowing Dino Beganovic to close in and complete a move into Turn 18 after running side-by-side into Turn 17.
Attempting to immediately fight back into Turn 1, Rafael locked up under braking and slipped behind Gabriele Mini, dropping back to third place.
Joshua, meanwhile, continued to battle inside the top 10 but lost places late on to Herta and Sebastián Montoya before briefly falling behind van Hoepen on the last lap, only to reclaim the position before the chequered flag.
Rafael ultimately secured third place and his second FIA Formula 2 Feature Race podium, while Joshua recovered to 10th.
RESULTS
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Rafael Câmara: P3 (16 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: P10 (1 point)
“Overall, it’s been an encouraging weekend, and it feels good to come away with my second podium in Formula 2. The Feature Race was especially challenging, and the conditions were definitely not easy. I didn’t have a good start in the wet and throughout the race there were quite a lot of Safety Cars, but my aim was to hold my position on each restart. In the first stint I had some overheating on the tyres, but I managed to get a good understanding of how the tyres behaved to manage them in a better way after the pit stop. After the final Safety Car, I think I pushed the tyres a bit too much and they started to overheat, especially at the rear. After that, I was trying to defend the lead and the fight was very intense, so a podium isn’t a bad result.”
“It’s been a little bit of a mixed weekend for me here in Miami. We started very well in practice, and I had a good feeling in the car. In Qualifying, my lap was not great but still good enough to be inside the top 10. I had a very good car in the Sprint Race and in the Feature Race we were having a very good race until the Safety Car came out at the wrong moment, impacting our strategy. We still made a good recovery and our pace was positive, but I think we deserved a lot more in terms of results and points. The positive is that we are very strong and I’m looking forward to Canada so we can get some of those points back.”
“Overall, the weekend has been very positive, and it feels good to come away with another podium – especially in Miami, the home of Invicta Watch Group. The margins in Qualifying were extremely small and, unfortunately, the yellow flag right at the end of the session meant that neither Rafa nor Joshua were able to improve. Despite that, we were able to mount a good performance in the Sprint Race on Saturday, where Joshua put together an excellent drive and was unfortunate to miss out on the podium. Sunday’s Feature Race was one of the most chaotic FIA Formula 2 races in recent memory, but both drivers delivered very measured and mature performances. Although there’s a slight feeling of leaving points on the table, we can’t control the uncontrollable, and we can take a lot of confidence from the progress we’re making this season.”
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Invicta Racing: P2 (50 points)
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Rafael Câmara: P3 (34 points)
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Joshua Dürksen: P8 (16 points)
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CIRCUIT: CIRCUIT GILLES VILLENEUVE
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ROUND: 3
- DATE: 23-24 MAY
