Joshua Dürksen was delighted after he grabbed double podiums around the iconic Monza circuit. With a P3 finish in the Sprint race and a P2 finish in the feature race, the AIX driver hopes the storm to his first victory of his second F2 campaign will be imminent.
A brilliant weekend
His double podiums in Monza brings the Paraguayan driver to 12th in the F2 Driver Standings with 47 points. The F2 Italian GP weekend also becomes his best point scoring weekend of the season. While the weekend begun with a fine practice session, and Qualifying placing him seventh on the grid, his impressive drives led to a brilliant result in the end. Dürksen was delighted when speaking about his weekend, stating:
“Just extremely happy. It has been an unbelievable weekend. I think we were quick from the get-go through Practice. Results didn’t show our pace, but I knew that the car had a lot of performance, a lot of potential. Qualifying with only one lap, we managed a really good lap. I was P4 for a moment, then we dropped to P8, but the potential was there for more“
A frantic Sprint Race
The Sprint Race looked to be the AIX driver’s best chance of podium contention, as he lined up fourth due to the reverse sprint grid format. However, when the lights went out the drivers luring behind Dürksen immediately capitalised by overtaking him and moving ahead. The frantic start had the AIX racer tumbling down the field, but he was determined to make his move on the drivers ahead.
“In the Sprint Race, it was a bit of a chaotic start, but then I was just recovering, step-by-step, and managed to finish on the podium. The car was good. And then today, the car was even better, and we had a good start, managed to stay out of the trouble.“
The Paraguayan driver needed to move smart as he spend large parts of the race chasing the pack just ahead of him. He continued on to explain:
“We pitted at the right moment, and it has just been a really incredible weekend. The guys have done a great job. I’m extremely grateful to them. They deserve it, I would say even a lot more than me, because they were just working a lot just to come back into the season with a rhythm, and I’m just grateful to God, my sponsors, my team, my family and all the fans are supporting me.”
Bounce back after the summer break
Prior to Monza, the F2 season had a long summer break. With the last round in Budapest taking place at the beginning of August, the near-month break allowed the driver to reset. After refilling his batteries in Paraguay, the AIX racer was ready to go once again.
“For sure the summer break was a good way to disconnect, just to focus on other stuff and then just come back fresh again. So for sure, the summer break was good for me. I enjoyed the time in Paraguay with family and friends.“
Last year during his first F2 campaign, Dürksen rocketed to third in the Sprint Race around Monza. The Feature Race saw him finish just outside of podium contention, in fifth place. While the results were strong already then, the driver proved he had even more to give this time around. With his P2 and P3 finishes this year around the Italian circuit, he once again showed that he is more than capable of maximising the result.
“This weekend was a good way to come back again. In Monza, I have always been competitive, even in Formula 4 and other categories, Monza has always fitted me. So I always have good memories from Monza. I always have a good feel for this track, and the car is quick here, so we could combine a quick car with my knowledge of this track, and we go an amazing result.” Dürksen expressed.
Confident for Baku
The F2 season still has three more races to go before it concludes the year. With Round 12 taking place around Baku, the racer hopes to carry the momentum from the weekend into the next race. Similarly to Monza, Baku proves to be another strong circuit for the AIX racer. Last year, Dürksen took a strong victory in the Sprint Race while the Feature Race saw him finish fifth. This time around, the Paraguayan driver undoubtably hopes to match the success of last year at the quick track.
“I think this result will also give us a boost in confidence for Baku. For sure, we won’t stop working, because this result doesn’t mean that we will be quick in Baku, but for sure, it’s a good motivation. We will keep working, and hopefully we can get very good results in Baku again, exactly like last year, or even better.” he added.
