Dunne has ‘no doubt’ he and Rodin can continue strong 2025 form at Spa

Alexander Dunne says his confidence for the upcoming Spa-Francorchamps weekend is as high as it has been at every round so far this season, as he looks to continue his fine form in the second half of the campaign.

The Rodin Motorsport driver comes into Round 9 fresh off a second-place finish in the Silverstone Feature Race and is currently third in the Drivers’ Championship on 108 points.

It was Dunne’s fifth podium of the year, which has helped fuel his excitement for a return to Spa, where he qualified second in Formula 3 in 2024.

PREVIEW: Round 9 takes us to Spa-Francorchamps

“I’m pretty excited,” said Dunne previewing the weekend. “Spa is a track that has gone pretty well for me in the past, in junior formulas and last year in F3, the pace in quali was strong as well.

“I have never really had a different feeling going into a weekend this year, every weekend has gone well. There has never been a weekend where we were left scratching our heads, wondering why we don’t have the pace for this.

“Every weekend, the pace has always been good, so I am just feeling the same as I have every weekend. I don’t really have any doubts that we won’t be able to carry it on, it’s just about being there every weekend.”

When asked what it takes to be successful at Spa, Dunne responded: “I think it’s a high commitment track. It leans towards being comfortable in the car and feeling comfortable in your surroundings.

“It’s about knowing exactly where to brake, how much speed you can carry, and I think that’s something as a driver I have always felt comfortable with, being closer to the edge, so I think that’s one of the more important things.”

Dunne heads into the weekend just 14 points behind leader Richard Verschoor but in the middle of a close title fight, with the top five covered by just 24 points.

What to Watch For: The key storylines to look out for at Round 9 in Spa

The Irishman acknowledges his disqualification from the Spielberg Sprint Race – where he finished second on the road – has affected things slightly, but he is still feeling comfortable about his form.

“The Championship is close, probably closer than I would like, but it’s been going very well,” Dunne continued. “Ultimately the disqualification in Austria threw a spanner in the works and made things harder than it should be.

“But as I’ve said, we’ve been right there every weekend. I am pretty comfortable in saying that we’ve had the pace to either be on the podium or to win. It’s never been worse than that, which is always a comfortable feeling.

“When you can go into a weekend knowing that the car is where you need to it be, realistically every weekend the car has been how I wanted it to be or very close and you can’t ask for more of that as a driver, and mentally that puts you in a nice place.”

With the forecast showing a heavy chance of rain on all three days of action, Dunne says he would be happy with wet or dry conditions.

The McLaren Development Driver Programme member already has two victories to his name this year, but none since Round 4 in Imola, yet Dunne is not too fixated on his results at the moment.

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“I think adding a couple more wins to the tally would be nice, but I am not really going into the weekends thinking I have to win,” he explained.

“If I finish second, third, fourth, win, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be happier if I win but I think I am not solely focusing on that, it’s just about having good points every weekend.

“The main thing for me in the last two weekends, the double header, I got disqualified in Austria, but both races it would have been harder for me to finish higher than second. So damage limitation was important, because both drivers ahead of me are right there in the Championship.”