Joshua Dürksen wins out in exciting, action-packed F2 sprint at Spa
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Invicta's Joshua Dürksen took his second race win of the season after a stop-start F2 sprint around the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. He would hold on in a late shootout to Rodin's Martinius Stenshorne, with DAMS' Dino Beganovic also returning to the podium in 2026 by finishing third.
Championship leader Nikola Tsolov would snatch fourth on the last lap with a daring move, ahead of Rodin's Alex Dunne in fifth, while Invicta's Rafa Câmara came home in sixth on the road.
DAMS racer Roman Bilinski recovered from a poor start to finish seventh, while MP Motorsport's Ollie Goethe took the final point in eighth. PREMA's Sebastián Montoya came home in ninth, having started at the front of the field, ahead of Trident's Laurens van Hoepen.
AS IT UNFOLDED - An exciting F2 sprint at Spa
Following a penalty to Campos racer Noel León after Friday's qualifying session around Spa, it was PREMA Racing's Sebastián Montoya who gained sprint pole. He started from the front of the field for the first time in 2026, ahead of Rodin's Martinius Stenshorne and DAMS' Roman Bilinski.
Drivers were coming off the back of a frantic end to qualifying on Friday, with Invicta's Rafa Câmara securing his fourth pole of the season, while ART's Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Rodin's Alex Dunne completed the 30-minute session second and third respectively. Despite the anticipation and excitement, the Spa sprint would face a delayed start, with the formation lap set to kick off at 14:20 local time (13:20 BST), with repairs conducted to the barriers following Lewis Hamilton's incident in Formula One's FP3 session held earlier.
As the drivers set off on their formation laps, it would be interesting to see how the new DRS zone from Blanchimont down to the Bus Stop chicane would aid overtaking in the pair of races around Spa-Francorchamps.
The DAMS pair of Dino Beganovic and Bilinski would almost trip over each other on the run down to the chicane, even veering off the track as the drivers rounded their way to the grid for the race start.
Off the five red lights, it would be Bilinski losing out the furthest, as he dropped from third down to ninth. On the other hand, the Rodin of Stenshorne pulled off an overtake around the outside of Les Combes, making use of the slipstream down to the chicane on the opening lap.
Several drivers had gained on the opening lap, though, with Joshua Dürksen moving up to third, while Beganovic sat fourth in the order. Further back, both Alex Dunne and Rafa Câmara moved their way into the top eight, running in the points-paying positions.
Further back, another driver with a slower start was the ART of Kush Maini, who dropped down to last position on the road.
Onto Lap 4, Stenshorne was almost on the verge of breaking the one-second mark, while Dunne and Tsolov closed in on fourth-placed Beganovic to chase for position. Elsewhere, León, who had made up ground early in the race, had now fallen back down to last on the road, dropping away from the grid.
The Norwegian driver had cleared the DRS margin by Lap 5 to Montoya, setting fastest laps as he looked to clear away from the chasing pack. The PREMA man would then face a chasing Invicta of Dürksen.
A change of position would ensue for second, with the yellow Invicta moving up into second with a move around the outside of Les Combes. However, the safety car would be called out on Lap 6, as Cian Shields was stuck in the barriers at Turn 9.
The AIX driver touched the gravel with his rear right tyre, as he battled away with Hitech's Ritomo Miyata for position, before spinning into the gravel. The Japanese driver himself had just experienced a major moment of oversteer at Raidillon corner, kicking off the sequence of events leading to the incident.
The safety car came out at a crucial time for the chasing pack, eroding the gap Stenshorne held over the rest of the field. The safety car would return to the pits after just a lap, a quick turnaround to return to racing speed.
Off the restart, the top three maintained their positions, while Beganovic faced pressure from the chasing Campos of Tsolov. Yet, no change as the drivers rounded Lap 8.
Halfway into the 18-lap race, Stenshorne still led the way from Dürksen and Montoya, with Beganovic and Tsolov in tow. This order would change onto Lap 10, following a lock-up from Montoya at Turn 1, opening the door for the Swedish driver to snatch third.
Further back, Tsolov's attempts to follow the DAMS man through almost ended in tears, as he just avoided a collision with Montoya's PREMA, before settling back behind in fifth.
Elsewhere, Stenshorne had lost his buffer to the chasing Dürksen, forced to cede position into the Les Combes chicane, and losing the lead he had held for the best part of nine laps.
Further back, Gabriele Minì pitted during the race, alongside Nico Varrone's VAR on Lap 11. The Italian driver reported a risk of fire, opting to make the pits in a bid to cool down his MP Motorsport car. Both drivers would retire from the race, with Minì losing any chance to add to his tally as he sits second in the standings. A flurry of drivers attempted to make moves on Lap 13, as Dürksen weaved across the circuit to stop Stenshorne from getting past. Even as Tsolov challenged Montoya for fifth, it was Câmara who made the overtake on John Bennett into Les Combes, taking seventh on the road.
Bennett would later experience a heavy spin on the run down to the Bus Stop chicane, stopping on the side of the circuit and becoming the fifth driver to retire from the race. The safety car was deployed to recover the stricken Trident.
The Briton's spin caused several drivers to take avoiding action, including Bilinski and Bennett's teammate Laurens van Hoepen who were close to making contact.
The first penalty for track limits would come in, with Maini incurring a five-second penalty for the same, compounding his tough day as he ran down in 15th. The Indian driver then made a pit stop to serve the penalty, rejoining the field in 17th and last.
As the safety car continued to circulate, Dürksen would be under investigation from the stewards multiple changes of direction, in his lead defence on Lap 13. He would later be cleared from any penalties, with no further investigation for his actions.
The safety car continued to circulate around on Lap 17, with Bennett's Trident now on the back of a recovery vehicle and lifted away from the circuit.
With green flag running resuming on Lap 18, it would be one final dash around Spa to decide victory in the F2 sprint. The Paraguayan driver left it until the Bus Stop chicane, before opening up a six-tenths of a second gap.
Further back, a big move from Tsolov saw him snatch fourth from Montoya on the final lap. With the PREMA man now compromised in his run down to Eau Rouge, he would lose several positions, with Dunne pulling off the overtake into Eau Rouge to snatch position. Dürksen would hold on to take his second victory of the season in the Spa sprint, ahead of Stenshorne and Beganovic.
An exciting sprint at Spa, and here's how it all unfolded after 18 laps of racing:
Classification - F2 Sprint at Spa
Joshua Dürksen (Invicta Racing)
Martinius Stenshorne (Rodin Motorsport)
Dino Beganovic (DAMS)
Nikola Tsolov (Campos Racing)
Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport)
Rafa Câmara (Invicta Racing)
Roman Bilinski (DAMS)
Ollie Goethe (MP Motorsport)
Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing)
Laurens van Hoepen (Trident)
Mari Boya (PREMA Racing)
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (ART Grand Prix)
Colton Herta (Hitech TGR)
Emerson Fittipaldi Jr (AIX Racing)
Kush Maini (ART Grand Prix)
Rafael Villagómez (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Ritomo Miyata (Hitech TGR)
Nicolás Varrone (Van Amersfoort Racing) - +4 laps
John Bennett (Trident) - DNF
Gabriele Minì (MP Motorsport) - DNF
Cian Shields (AIX Racing) - DNF
Noel León (Campos Racing) - DNF
Comments