Invicta Racing’s Joshua Duerksen produced a masterclass in race craft to complete a historic Formula 2 weekend sweep at the Italian GP, prevailing in a tense, strategic duel against teammate Rafael Camara.
Starting alongside pole-sitter Camara on an all-Invicta front row, the Paraguayan navigated multi-car battles, team order dynamics, and two Safety Car restarts before withstanding late pressure to cross the line first.
The first win of the weekend for Duerksen
Yesterday, Joshua Duerksen already sealed a thrilling Formula 2 Sprint Race victory at Monza.
Starting from fourth, the Paraguayan sliced through the field and executed a bold move on Trident’s John Bennett into the Rettifilio chicane to seize the lead on Lap 9.
Duerksen then absorbed intense pressure and navigated two Safety Car restarts to cross the line first ahead of Bennett and Oliver Goethe.
Meanwhile, the championship battle took a dramatic twist when title contender Rafael Camara spun and stalled early on, bringing out the first Safety Car.
Nikola Tsolov capitalised on his rival’s retirement, fighting his way up to fifth place to gain a crucial title advantage.
Time for the Italian GP F2 Feature Race
Invicta Racing locked out the front row for the Italian GP Feature Race, with championship contender Rafael Camara on pole position alongside teammate Joshua Duerksen.
Duerksen pounced immediately at the start, taking the lead from Camara after the pole-sitter ran wide into Turn 1.
Behind them, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak made a brilliant getaway from fifth on the grid to charge up to third. In contrast, it was a dismal start for both Rodin Motorsport drivers: Alex Dunne dropped from third to fourth, while Martinius Stenshorne plummeted from fourth to seventh.
Duerksen then suffered a heavy lock-up into Turn 1, but he avoided major damage and maintained his lead over his teammate. Further back, Inthraphuvasak set the fastest lap of the race as he closed down on the rear of Camara’s Invicta.
On Lap 4, Camara carried massive overspeed down the main straight, diving past Duerksen at Turn 1 to retake the lead of the race.
This prompted Invicta to radio Duerksen, instructing him to work with his teammate. He moved back past Camara to reclaim the lead as the pair looked to manage their pace out front.
Meanwhile, Inthraphuvasak and Dunne continued to monitor the leading pair closely from third and fourth.
Pit Stops started
Duerksen ran wide through the second Lesmo, prompting Invicta to immediately call him into the pit lane for his mandatory pit stop. A cluster of drivers followed suit, with Dunne, Noel Leon, and John Bennett all pulling into the pits.
Race leader Camara made his mandatory stop shortly after. He re-entered the track behind Duerksen, but crucially stayed ahead of Dunne, who had successfully jumped Inthraphuvasak during the pit cycles.
Camara struggled on cold tyres out of the pits, losing time to Duerksen and coming under intense pressure from Dunne behind. Inthraphuvasak was also struggling severely to switch on his tyres after his stop, dropping places to Leon, who climbed to an effective fourth, before being picked off by Bennett, Ritomo Miyata, and Nikola Tsolov.
Meanwhile, Camara began recovering his rhythm, trimming Duerksen’s lead down to 2.1 seconds. Invicta reassured the Brazilian over the radio that he would have the strategic advantage over his teammate toward the end of the race.
Safety Car deployed
The battle at the top was abruptly halted when Colton Herta lost control and stopped in the gravel at Parabolica.
Herta quickly climbed out of his car unhurt, but the incident prompted an immediate Safety Car deployment, neutralising the field and closing the gaps out front.
The Safety Car period drew to a close with Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. trying to take advantage of the neutralisation to dive into the pit lane for his mandatory stop, switching to the option purple supersoft tyres for a late-race charge.
Green again
As racing resumed, Duerksen executed a flawless restart to pull 1.3 seconds clear of Camara. In contrast, the pole-sitter immediately found himself under severe pressure from Dunne behind.
However, Dunne locked up into Turn 3 and ran off line, losing third place to León in the process. Duerksen continued to handle the pressure out front masterfully, while Camara worked to fend off Leon.
He stabilised his pace and brought the gap down to 1.1 seconds behind race leader Duerksen, temporarily pulling away from Leon.
By lap 23, Camara sat just 0.6 seconds behind Duerksen, with Leon tucked up behind the lead pair and holding DRS advantage.
Invicta Racing informed Duerksen over the radio that he and Camara were clear to race each other. Duerksen responded with strong pace to keep both Camara and Leon from mounting an attack.
Further back, Dunne dropped out of Leon’s DRS train, falling 1.5 seconds behind the podium battle and coming under fire from Bennett. Armed with DRS down the main straight, Bennett used a strong overspeed into Turn 1 to sweep past Dunne and claim fourth position.
Final laps for the F2 Feature Race
Ritomo Miyata was informed over team radio that he was lapping faster than both Bennett and Dunne ahead. Miyata launched an attack into Turn 1 but could not find a way past the Rodin car, allowing Tsolov to close in and join the multi-car battle.
Up front, the gap at the lead closed to just 0.4 seconds as Camara mounted one final push against Duerksen, while Leon dropped back slightly in third.
On the main straight, Miyata made his move stick, stripping fifth position from Dunne. Down the front stretch for the final time, Duerksen held off Camara once again with superb defensive positioning.
Joshua Duerksen crossed the finish line to take a sensational Italian GP F2 Feature Race victory!
Camara secured second to complete an Invicta 1-2 finish ahead of Leon in third. Bennett took fourth, followed by Miyata in fifth, Dunne sixth, Tsolov seventh, Inthraphuvasak eighth, Oliver Goethe ninth, and Nicolas Varrone rounding out the top ten points-paying positions.
READ MORE – Formula 2 2026 Italian Grand Prix – Feature Race Results
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