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Joshua Duerksen converted a P7 starting position into a commanding Formula 2 Sprint Race victory at Monza, controlling a late Safety Car restart to claim his third Sprint win of the 2026 season.
The Invicta Racing driver’s success also made him the driver with the most podiums at Monza in F2. John Bennett finished second for TRIDENT on his 50th start, while Oliver Goethe completed the podium in third for MP Motorsport.
The result builds on an all-Invicta front row for Sunday’s Feature Race. Rafael Câmara beat Duerksen to Monza pole by 57 milliseconds, setting up another opportunity for the team to fight at the front.
Reverse-grid pole sitter Bennett held the lead into Turn 1, but Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak moved into second at the first chicane. Duerksen immediately made progress, passing Martinius Stenshorne and then Goethe to reach third by the opening laps.
After an attempted move around the outside of Inthraphuvasak at the first corner, Duerksen completed the pass with DRS on Lap 5. The opening Safety Car was triggered when Rafael Câmara spun after contact with Nico Varrone and stalled on track.
Bennett maintained the lead at the restart, but Duerksen stayed within striking distance. On Lap 9, he used DRS to take the lead from the TRIDENT driver into Turn 1.
Goethe and Stenshorne continued their fight behind, with Goethe eventually reclaiming third on Lap 16. A second Safety Car followed after Roman Bilinski spun at Ascari on Lap 17, compressing the field once more.
Racing resumed with two laps remaining. Duerksen launched cleanly and immediately escaped DRS range, leaving Bennett unable to mount a final challenge. Goethe held third, while Noel León finished fourth ahead of teammate Nikola Tsolov. Stenshorne, Alexander Dunne and Laurens van Hoepen completed the points-paying positions.
“I had an amazing start and the car was just great. I felt very good and had good pace,” Duerksen said. “I really love this track and thank God we could get this win.”
Tsolov remains the championship leader on 171 points, with Gabriele Minì on 147 and Câmara on 145. Campos Racing lead the Teams’ Standings on 270 points, ahead of Invicta Racing on 198.
Sunday’s Feature Race starts with Câmara on pole and Duerksen alongside him, with lights out scheduled for 09:45 local time.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.