Alexander Dunne Sets Silverstone Free Practice Pace for Rodin

Dunne strikes first at Silverstone

Alexander Dunne opened his Silverstone weekend in commanding fashion, putting Rodin Motorsport at the top of the Free Practice order with a late benchmark of 1:42.065. The lap was enough to edge Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara by just 0.071s, while DAMS Lucas Oil driver Dino Beganovic completed the top three.

It was a sharp start from Rodin from the outset. Dunne initially set the tone with a 1:43.143, heading teammate Martinius Stenshorne by 0.085s as the field began to build rhythm around Silverstone. That early Rodin one-two did not last long, but it established the competitive platform from which Dunne would later reclaim control of the session.

Campos Racing’s Noel León briefly moved into second, just 0.007s away from Dunne, before Gabriele Minì and then John Bennett took turns at the top. Dunne responded with a 1:42.513, moving back to P1 as Câmara emerged as his closest challenger, 0.173s adrift.

Câmara raises the bar before Dunne responds

Câmara then delivered one of the session’s defining laps, posting a 1:42.136 to open a gap of more than three tenths over the rest of the field. Kush Maini reduced that advantage to 0.277s when he climbed to second for ART Grand Prix with just over 20 minutes remaining.

After a short spell in the pit lane, the final runs brought a rapid escalation in pace. Bennett jumped to third ahead of Joshua Duerksen, before Minì moved into second and cut Câmara’s margin to 0.218s. Duerksen improved again to take third as the times began to fall quickly in the closing 10 minutes.

For broader context on the weekend’s competitive picture, our Formula 2 Silverstone Round 7 preview outlined why this stage of the event carries particular weight for several leading names, including Dunne, Minì and Câmara.

Top 10 set before Qualifying

Beganovic came closest to Câmara before Dunne’s final response, moving to within 0.005s of the lead, while teammate Roman Bilinski climbed to third. But Dunne had the decisive answer, eclipsing Câmara by 0.071s to return to P1 with the session’s fastest time.

There were no further improvements. Dunne finished fastest ahead of Câmara and Beganovic, with Sebastián Montoya fourth for PREMA Racing. Bilinski was fifth, Minì sixth and Duerksen seventh, followed by Bennett, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Maini.

The field now has only a few hours to study the data before Qualifying at 14:55 local time.

Dunne strikes first at Silverstone