ALEX DUNNE HAS finished third in qualifying for the opening Formula 2 race of the season at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne.
The Rodin Motorsport driver, who signed for the Alpine Academy this week, laboured for much of qualifying. But he came up with a great save after skidding off in free practice, before making some tweaks to his car configuration.
The Offaly native’s eventual 1:29.039 time saw him lead before being overhauled by pole-sitter Dino Beganovic, of DAMS Lucas Oil, and Rodin teammate Martinius Stenshorne.
“Qualifying wasn’t too bad,” said Dunne. “Well, in saying that, the last lap wasn’t too bad. Up until then, it was a bit tricky.
“We were struggling with a couple of things and we had to make a couple of changes on the car for the final run to improve that.
“If I’m not wrong, I was 15th or 16th before that final lap. So, all the pressure was on that lap to deliver it at the end. Otherwise, it would have been a much harder day and much harder weekend as well.
“It’s not a bad place to start, being in the top three is always nice.”
Dunne revealed the team made some “relatively big changes” during the session.
Alex Dunne pictured during the Formula 2 Qualifying Session at Photosport / Clay Cross/INPHO
Photosport / Clay Cross/INPHO / Clay Cross/INPHO
“I was struggling quite a bit with the fronts and understeer at the beginning and I much prefer a car that’s quite on the nose,” he said.
“We made a relatively big step for the last run because, realistically, we didn’t have a whole lot to lose and I wasn’t particularly happy with the balance. So we made a big step and we probably could have gone even more, but it was in a much better direction.”
The first race of the 2026 season takes place on Saturday, with the Sprint Race set to begin at 3.10am Irish time.
'Big changes' help Alex Dunne take third in F2 qualifying
ALEX DUNNE HAS finished third in qualifying for the opening Formula 2 race of the season at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne.
The Rodin Motorsport driver, who signed for the Alpine Academy this week, laboured for much of qualifying. But he came up with a great save after skidding off in free practice, before making some tweaks to his car configuration.
The Offaly native’s eventual 1:29.039 time saw him lead before being overhauled by pole-sitter Dino Beganovic, of DAMS Lucas Oil, and Rodin teammate Martinius Stenshorne.
“Qualifying wasn’t too bad,” said Dunne. “Well, in saying that, the last lap wasn’t too bad. Up until then, it was a bit tricky.
“We were struggling with a couple of things and we had to make a couple of changes on the car for the final run to improve that.
“If I’m not wrong, I was 15th or 16th before that final lap. So, all the pressure was on that lap to deliver it at the end. Otherwise, it would have been a much harder day and much harder weekend as well.
“It’s not a bad place to start, being in the top three is always nice.”
Dunne revealed the team made some “relatively big changes” during the session.
“I was struggling quite a bit with the fronts and understeer at the beginning and I much prefer a car that’s quite on the nose,” he said.
“We made a relatively big step for the last run because, realistically, we didn’t have a whole lot to lose and I wasn’t particularly happy with the balance. So we made a big step and we probably could have gone even more, but it was in a much better direction.”
The first race of the 2026 season takes place on Saturday, with the Sprint Race set to begin at 3.10am Irish time.
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