Interview
Dunne happy with ‘enjoyable’ Free Practice in Montreal
Alexander Dunne and Rodin Motorsport made a superb start to the Montreal weekend with the Irish driver leading their charge in Free Practice.
The Alpine Academy member led a one-two for the team at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with his 1:22.524 just 0.012s quicker than teammate Martinius Stenshorne.
Speaking in the paddock afterwards, Dunne was happy with how things went and also praised the layout of the track.
“I'm happy,” said Dunne. “The track is really cool, really really enjoyable. I really enjoyed it. I think the general flow of the track is kind of similar to Miami and Melbourne, where it's like a normal track and a street track at the same time, which is cool.
“So it is definitely really enjoyable. The track was very dirty so it took a couple of laps to get into it but I'm happy.”
On the balance of his car throughout the session, Dunne said: “Overall I'm pretty happy. Obviously, it must be pretty good if Martinius and I are first and second, so that's good for the team but it’s definitely not perfect.
“There are still a few things that we can work on and fix which is a nice place to be. I think when you're already quick and there's stuff you can do to make it better that means you're in a pretty strong spot, so I'm looking forward to qualifying.”
With there only being 45 minutes of track action before Qualifying later today, Dunne and the rest of the field were looking to get up to speed and to push the limits of the track as much as possible.
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There were several incidents across the session, but Dunne says it took him just a few laps to understand the layout of the circuit.
“I think it took a couple of laps for me to get used to it,” he said. “After three or four laps I had a pretty good idea of where I was going.
“It didn't take too long to get into it to be honest.”
Looking ahead to Qualifying, conditions are expected to be different, with temperatures expected to be much higher than Free Practice, and with the step down in tyre compound from the Softs to the Supersofts.
When asked if that will have an influence, Dunne instead highlighted how much the track should improve over the next few hours.
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“I think the main difference is that the track won't be covered in dust,” he said. “I think with how dirty the track was it's by far the dirtiest track I've ever driven on in F2.
“So I imagine the track evolution is going to be really high especially since F1 will be driving before us as well.”
Dunne has already achieved two Pole Positions in his Formula 2 career and when asked if he was confident of adding another later on today, he responded: “Yes!”