Alexander Dunne got the job done when it mattered. In a race where the conditions never settled and no lead felt safe, the Rodin Motorsport driver kept it clean, held his ground, and walked away from Spa with another win. And with it, the championship lead back in his hands.
It wasn’t straightforward. Far from it. Four laps behind the Safety Car set the tone for what was coming. Rain, restarts, pit stops, spins, and one final red flag. Dunne led most of it. But he had to fight for every corner.
Stanek attacks early, Dunne escapes
The start came late after four formation laps, with everyone thrown straight into a rolling launch in the wet. Roman Stanek made the first big move, diving past Ritomo Miyata at Turn 1. It didn’t last long. Miyata struck back at the top of the hill, grabbing second again by the end of the Kemmel Straight.
That squabble gave Dunne the break he needed. One lap later, he was almost two seconds clear.
Rain ramps up, mistakes follow
Behind the front three, grip was fading fast. Leonardo Fornaroli jumped ahead of Martí early on, only to run wide at Eau Rouge and hand the place straight back. That off marked the start of a slide down the order. By Lap 6, Gabriele Minì had pushed past the struggling Invicta car as well.
Miyata was quietly reeling Dunne in. On Lap 5, the gap was down to just over a second. By Lap 8, it was 0.3s. Stanek was still close behind too. Suddenly it was a three-car fight for the lead.
Victor Martins was trying to hang on in fourth, but Arvid Lindblad was coming – and so were the penalties. On Lap 10, Martins picked up two separate five-second penalties for exceeding track limits. That effectively wiped out his top-five hopes.
Tyre calls shake the order
With rain still falling, the pit window opened. Drivers started diving in for new wets around Lap 11. Dino Beganovic, Minì, Montoya, Verschoor and Fornaroli were first. Stanek, Martí and Martins followed on the next lap. Then came the leaders.
Lap 13 saw a flurry of stops. Dunne, Miyata, Lindblad and Browning all boxed, but the drama wasn’t over. Browning lost the rear at pit exit and spun. He rejoined, but it dropped him out of the front-running group.
Dunne came out just ahead of Stanek. The two went side-by-side at Les Combes, but the Rodin car stayed in front and started to rebuild a buffer.
Goethe holds up the lead fight
There was still more chaos to come. Dunne caught up to Oliver Goethe, one of the few who hadn’t stopped. The MP Motorsport driver didn’t move aside. Dunne had to go around the outside at Pouhon to finally retake the net race lead.
That delay gave Stanek a chance to close in, but instead, it unravelled. Miyata slipped through at the final chicane to take second. Then Lindblad used the slipstream on the Kemmel Straight to demote the Czech driver further.
But just as the Campos rookie moved up to third, Miyata hit trouble. A spin at Pouhon dropped him down to fourth, and suddenly he was defending from Martí and a recovering Browning.
Late moves and a red flag finish
Fornaroli wasn’t done yet. He sent it through Eau Rouge to take seventh from Beganovic. Browning, meanwhile, tapped Martí at Stavelot and dived past him for fifth just before the final chicane.
Then the Safety Car came out.
Sebastián Montoya had spun at Eau Rouge and parked it. On Lap 21, Goethe ground to a halt as well. Conditions weren’t improving. That was it. The red flags came out. The race would not restart.
Back on top
Dunne took the win. Not by luck. Not by strategy. But by staying cool when everyone else got dragged into chaos. Lindblad grabbed second, his best result since Melbourne. Stanek came home third, back on the podium after a rough few rounds.
Miyata was fourth. Browning recovered well to fifth. Martí, Fornaroli, Beganovic, Minì and Martins rounded out the top ten.
What Dunne said
“Third win of the year. Taking the lead back in the championship. That one really meant something. It was probably the toughest race of the season so far. Just constant pressure. I didn’t have a second to breathe. But we kept it together and made it count.”
Championship standings
Alexander Dunne now leads the Drivers’ Championship on 137 points. Richard Verschoor is 15 behind, with Leonardo Fornaroli just one point further back. Jak Crawford and Luke Browning complete the top five.
In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing lead on 183 points. Invicta trail by 15. Hitech TGR are third with 154. Rodin and MP Motorsport are tied on 139.
Next stop: Budapest
Formula 2 heads straight to Hungary for Round 10. The Hungaroring will host the final race before the summer break, with running from August 1 to 3.