Joshua Dürksen Dominates Monza with F2 Feature Race Victory

Joshua Dürksen turned a statement Saturday into a complete takeover of Monza, backing up his Sprint Race triumph with victory in the Formula 2 Feature Race to lock down a flawless Italian weekend.

The Invicta Racing driver beat teammate Rafael Camara in a tense, tactical fight that ran right to the final lap, with Noel Leon calmly picking his way through the chaos to claim the final podium place.

Camara’s nightmare launch, Dürksen pounces

From pole, this was supposed to be Camara’s race. Instead, his start unravelled in a heartbeat.

The Ferrari junior bogged down off the line, then made things worse by locking up heavily into Turn 1. He skipped across the chicane, but there was no hiding from the consequences: he had to hand the lead to Dürksen, who had launched cleanly and read the moment perfectly.

That early exchange set the tone. The Invicta pair quickly turned the race into their own private duel at the front. By Lap 4, they were trading blows into Turn 1, swapping places more than once as they diced on the brakes and tested each other’s nerve.

Dürksen blinked first on strategy, peeling into the pits at the end of Lap 6. Camara stayed out a little longer, trying to eke out an advantage on track before making his stop.

Strategy games and a Safety Car twist

Camara dived into the pits on Lap 8. It wasn’t enough. He emerged only marginally behind his teammate, the undercut having done its job for Dürksen. Any chance of an easy recovery vanished as Dunne latched onto the back of the Ferrari protégé and turned up the pressure.

The race then took its key twist on Lap 12.

Colton Herta slid off into the gravel at Parabolica, his car beached and going nowhere. The Safety Car came out, compressing the field and wiping away Dürksen’s hard-earned cushion at the front.

On the restart, Dürksen kept his head. He nailed the launch, protected the inside, and held the lead into Turn 1. Behind him, Camara had no such comfort. Dunne attacked, forced the issue, and ended up cutting the Roggia chicane. That mistake opened the door for Noel Leon, who slipped through and grabbed the position, turning quiet consistency into a podium shot.

Camara’s late charge falls short

As the laps ticked away, the race settled into a straight fight between the Invicta pair. Leon held firm in third, while Dunne’s earlier error left him playing catch-up rather than attacking for the win.

Camara regrouped. Lap by lap, he edged closer to Dürksen, shadowing his lines, probing for any weakness under braking into Turn 1 and through the Lesmos. The Brazilian threw everything he had at his teammate in the closing stages, dragging himself onto Dürksen’s gearbox as they began the final tour of Monza.

The pressure was real. The mistake never came.

Dürksen absorbed it all, hit every apex that mattered, and powered out of Parabolica one last time to take the flag first, sealing a feature race win to go with his Sprint Race success. Camara followed him home in second, Leon completing the podium after a composed drive.

Title picture tightens, home race heartbreak

Behind the podium fight, the result carried weight in the standings.

Rafael Camara’s second place closed the gap to championship leader Nikola Tsolov, who could manage only seventh after a subdued afternoon. It was damage limitation for the Red Bull junior, but the margin at the top shrank all the same.

For Gabriele Mini, Monza brought only frustration. Racing at home with MP Motorsport, he left empty-handed, failing to score a single point in front of the Italian crowd.

Dürksen, though, walked away as the weekend’s undisputed winner — a double victor at the Temple of Speed, and a growing force in a title fight that suddenly looks far less settled than it did a week ago.