Round 5 Post Qualifying Press Conerence

FIA Formula 2: Well, a very warm welcome to the F2 press conference following qualifying here in Barcelona. On the left in P2 is Joshua Duerksen of Invicta Racing, in the middle is pole sitter for this session Rafael Câmara also of Invicta Racing, and on the right in P3 is Alex Dunne. Welcome gentlemen, let me start with Rafael, pole position, that couldn't have come at a better time I feel.

Rafael Câmara: Very good pole position. The session, I think, went very well. I already was able to get a very good lap on lap one, here in Barcelona you always need to deliver in that one lap because the tyres don’t last very long, and already from FP I was feeling good with the car. I think we sat in a very good place and then qualifying was just looking into things and putting everything together for both runs. Unfortunately couldn't get the second lap but it was good enough to be on pole and now just focusing on the races on Saturday and Sunday.

FIA Formula 2: Track temperatures were up to 50 degrees centigrade, we know Barcelona is a tyre killer especially the left front, how much management is there gearing up to your fast lap to get everything right?

Câmara: Through one lap you feel a bit of deg in sector three with overheating and the tyre is not feeling good in the last sector, but you just try to survive, you have to manage the driving and keep it clean. I think in the races, it will be a big thing looking after your tyres and to make sure that you're doing the things properly. I’m just going to be looking with the team about what we need to do for the races and to make sure we are prepared for the conditions.

FIA Formula 2: Is there anything now that you still want to do with the car setup wise to get ready for the race, do you have a wish list?

Câmara: For sure you cannot run the same as quali. I think that would be a bit too aggressive but going into it the team we will change a bit to make sure our tyres are good in the race. But just looking with them, making sure that we're preparing well and have a good race.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you very much. On your left we have Joshua Duerksen, eventful session for everybody today, how tough was it to at least get near to a perfect lap?

Joshua Duerksen: I mean it was quite a good quali session. The car felt very good, this helps a lot just to get a clean lap in, a good lap in, as Rafa said the lap you have to do it on the first lap, after that the tyres are out of their window and they start to struggle for the second lap. But to be honest I think we had quite a clean quali session, everything went smoothly so I'm quite happy with that.

FIA Formula 2: What's that like mentally though when you know it has to come on the first lap on a set that puts extra pressure on you?

Duerksen: To be honest I always have the same mentality. I just try to do my best on every single lap I do, every single corner so it doesn't really change a lot and anyways all of us we know very well Barcelona so for sure that gives us a boost of confidence and knowing that you know the track, you know how the car should feel and if you just replicate that feeling then everything is going to be all right.

FIA Formula 2: It's incredibly tight in the Championship for you as well as for everybody, you need a good result here in Barcelona. Is this definitely a morale boost?

Duerksen: For sure it’s a very good chance for us. I think we were quite unlucky the last few rounds where we had a very good pace, a lot of potential but we just didn't manage to convert it into results so for sure with this qualifying and now in Barcelona we have a very good opportunity to get back those points that we deserved.

FIA Formula 2: Thanks Josh. We go to Alex Dunne in third. Last week in Monaco you spoke about being consistent and always being there, qualifying like this is exactly what you need then?

Alex Dunne: It's not too bad. I think definitely we probably didn't quite have the pace to put it on pole today, I think the lap time I did is more or less as quick as I could have gone. There's definitely a little bit left to see where we're losing the pace to them so I think that's definitely something we'll pay attention to, to try and find what we were missing but I think just to be there even when the car is good to be there when the car isn't as good or when we're missing a little bit as a team and to still be there I think that's what matters.

FIA Formula 2: Now you're in third as you say you were about two tenths adrift, how does this compare to your race pace, what do you think you know for your race pace?

Dunne: I'll tell you after the Sprint Race tomorrow. I mean our race pace is normally quite strong, but I think still if you look at the gap in comparison to them two I think especially the lap time Rafa did on run one. The fact that he's on pole after run one is very impressive, normally if he went back out and just drove the exact same way already with a fuel effect you'd probably go two or three tenths quicker so that's quite a big jump. I think that pace is pretty impressive and they've been quick in the races all year as well so I don't imagine they're going just lose that randomly so I think if we can get a bit closer, I'd be happy but I don't imagine to be the quickest all of a sudden.

FIA Formula 2: Now Barcelona holds very few secrets for most drivers, a lot of drivers been here a lot, what is the best overtaking opportunity for the next few days?

Dunne: I think probably into Turn 1 where we have the big DRS on I think the rest of the track is very difficult you know there's a lot of medium and high speed corners so dirty air makes it very tricky and in general I think here racing in general and getting close is quite hard and then with a high deg as well you have to push on and push through the dirty air to try and get close to someone which kills the tyres a bit more so I think Turn 1 is the main option but even with that I think it's still going to be kind of difficult.

FIA Formula 2: Thanks all.