‘I could not be happier’ – Dunne hails Rodin’s improvement after ending testing on top

12 December 2025

Alexander Dunne was the one to beat on the final day of post-season testing at the Yas Marina Circuit, the Rodin Motorsport driver ending up with the fastest time on Day three.

The Irish driver completed a 1:37.153 on the Supersoft tyres in the morning session, enough to see him beat ART Grand Prix driver Kush Maini to the top time by just 0.010s.

After going through plenty of long runs in the afternoon, Dunne and his teammate, Martinius Stenshorne, bolted on the softer compound for the final five minutes and climbed into second and third respectively.

It ended what Dunne felt was a positive three days of testing, one that he and Rodin could take plenty from.

“Pretty good. Overall we can be quite happy,” said Dunne when asked how testing had gone. “I think Ollie's laptime yesterday was a little bit quicker, so overall we are second quickest over the three days.

“It's a big improvement from the race weekend that's for sure. We've gone from realistically struggling to put it in the top 10 to comfortably being in the top three on all three days.

Dunne set the fastest time of the final day of post-season testing

“We made some good improvements with the car. I feel a lot more comfortable, so naturally I am able to extract more myself. There is still a little bit more left in it today, but it's testing, so I am happy to leave that out there. But overall, it has been a strong three days.”

When asked whether he and Rodin had focused more on improving their performance from the race weekend or on testing for the future, Dunne revealed that it was a mix of both.

“I think a lot of it was looking back on the race weekend and trying to make the car better,” he replied. “I think all weekend we were just trying to find the sweet spot in comparison to how we normally are.

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow the action from the final day of post-season testing at Yas Marina

“Qualifying and the race, it was quite a difficult weekend in terms of pace, and trying to figure out what that was. Also testing a couple of things, to make it better for here but also that you can bring forward to next year as well.

“We got through a lot of stuff. I am very happy with the three days, it was very productive and I could not be much happier with what we did.”

Dunne’s time was just over a tenth slower than Goethe’s effort from Day 2, and the 20-year-old says his MP rival served as a good reference over the last three days.

Dunne is looking forward to the break after a successful test

“Ollie has been very quick this weekend, and through the test, so it's nice to have someone like that to have a strong reference,” he said.

“I am pretty sure he was in the fight for pole on the race weekend, so to be there with him, I think he and I were probably the two quickest over the three days, so to be there with him is a step in the right direction.

“I think they may have a little bit of an upper hand but to be there with him, very happy.”

Looking ahead to next year, Dunne says he plans to take a bit of time off, before hitting the ground running ahead of the 2026 campaign.

“I think having a break now is nice,” he said. “I have done a lot of laps in Abu Dhabi, so if I were to drive again I would like to go somewhere else.

“It's nice to have a break, when I get home, relax, spend time with my family. friends, with my girlfriend, chill out for new years, and then in the new year the work will start again.”