Duerksen charges from seventh to win Monza F2 Sprint

Invicta Racing’s Joshua Duerksen put in a stellar drive from the fourth row on the grid to win the Formula 2 Sprint Race. The Paraguayan driver controlled a late-race safety car restart to earn his third Sprint of the season and in the process became the driver with the most podiums at Monza in F2.

Trident’s John Bennett claimed P2 in what was his 50th start, while Oliver Goethe completed the podium in third place for MP Motorsport.

Reverse grid pole-sitter Bennett covered off Goethe to retain the lead into Turn 1, and that allowed Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak to take second position at the first chicane. Behind them, Duerksen was on the charge and up to fourth, rounding Martinius Stenshorne into the first Lesmo.

On lap 2, Nikola Tsolov took sixth place from Ritomo Miyata into the final corner. Up ahead and opening the third tour, Duerksen took third place from Goethe, who then also lost a spot to Stenshorne on the run to Turn 4. Their battling had allowed leader Bennett to escape two seconds up the road and well out of DRS range to those behind.

Duerksen tried to fight around the outside of Inthraphuvasak at the first corner to begin lap 4 but the Paraguayan driver had to cut across the corner, staying third for the time being. Championship leader Tsolov lost out to Campos Racing teammate Noel León on traction exiting the second chicane, dropping the Bulgarian back down to seventh.

Lap 5 and Duerksen nailed a DRS pass to take second position from Inthraphuvasak. In the title fight, it was a dramatic few corners as Alexander Dunne and Tsolov went wheel-to-wheel in the opening chicane but ran deep into Turn 2, dropping them down to eighth and ninth places.

Right behind them, Feature Race pole-sitter Rafael Câmara was spun around after contact with Nico Varrone on corner exit and stalled. This left him out of the running having been on the cusp of the points places. The safety car was then deployed to recover the stationary Invicta car. Bennett launched back to racing conditions at the start of lap 7 and he kept Duerksen at bay into the first corners.

León continued his progress as he cleared Stenshorne into the final corner to take fifth position, though the Norwegian fought back through at the first corner on the following lap. Duerksen was glued to the rear wing of Bennett and with DRS, the Invicta driver claimed the lead of the race on lap 9 into Turn 1.

A slight error through Ascari left Goethe under pressure from Stenshorne entering lap 11, and with a tow from Inthraphuvasak ahead, the Rodin driver moved into P4. On lap 12 a lock-up at Turn 1 sent Inthraphuvasak across the escape road, dropping him from third to fifth. León then took advantage to dive down the outside at Turn 4 and demote the Thai driver to P6.

Tsolov claimed the place on the following lap, moving down the inside of the ART driver at the first corner. Dunne then pulled off a great switchback pass into the second chicane to earn seventh position. Goethe was back through on Stenshorne on lap 16, using DRS to get alongside and ahead under braking into Turn 1 for P3.

Roman Bilinski was left on the side of the track after a spin on the exit of Ascari which brought out the safety car on lap 17. With the DAMS Lucas Oil car cleared away, racing got back underway heading into lap 20 of 21, and Duerksen retained the lead across the line.

Behind them, León secured fourth from Stenshorne at the first corner, going around the outside of the Rodin driver. Teammate Tsolov followed at the first Lesmo but had lost touch and fallen out of DRS range to the Mexican ahead. Onto the final lap and the Norwegian driver attempted a pass, but out-braked himself and cut across the chicane. He allowed Tsolov back through ahead of Turn 4 to settle back into sixth.

Having controlled the safety car restart, Duerksen had bolted and escaped DRS range for an untroubled run to the line and Sprint Race victory. Bennett secured second for Trident ahead of Goethe in third for MP Motorsport. León’s charge was rewarded with fourth ahead of teammate Tsolov, Rodin teammates Stenshorne and Dunne, while Laurens van Hoepen completed the points in eighth to make it a double-score for Trident. America's Colton Herta finished 15th for Hitech.

“I had an amazing start and the car was just great," said Duerksen. "I’m so happy because it’s an amazing track and I think it’s the best podium of the whole season. I’m very happy and looking forward to tomorrow as well.”

F2 returns to the track for Sunday’s Feature Race, with Câmara set to go from pole position with Invicta Racing teammate Duerksen alongside him on the front row. Lights out is scheduled for 9:45am local time.