Duerksen happy with first outing around Silverstone ahead of ‘unpredictable’ Qualifying

5 July 2024

For a first timer around the Silverstone Circuit, AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen handled things more than capably. The Paraguayan driver finished the opening session of the weekend fastest of all as rain hit the circuit pre-session to make conditions tricky for all the drivers.

Duerksen set the pace late in the session as he got to grips with the high-speed curves of the old-school track though grip was at a premium until close to the end of running.

The AIX driver says he was pleased with his exploratory efforts, adding that he was feeling much more positive heading into the all-important Qualifying session later on.

“To be honest it was a pretty good session. It was my first time on the track, I’ve never driven here so I think it was a really positive practice session for us. In the wet, the beginning was pretty difficult for us because there was very little grip.

“As the session went on, the track got drier and the grip was improving. To be honest I felt good, the car was in a good window and of course, the track at the end was pretty dry so that helped a lot for the laptime. But I’m really enjoying the track, it’s really cool.

“I want to see how it’ll be in the dry with full downforce and grip of the tyres, but it was good. Let’s see what Qualifying brings because we don’t know whether it will be wet or dry.”

Crucially, Duerksen says that the session was very useful despite the relatively unhelpful track conditions due to the lack of running in 2024 on the wet weather tyres.

Duerksen says another top 10 start is the goal for AIX as the team continues to improve in 2024

A treacherous Practice session in Monte Carlo was the only prior running on the blue-walled Pirelli tyres, so Duerksen says that getting to sample them on a track like Silverstone was very useful, especially with unpredictable conditions across the weekend.

“Especially how the tyres work, that’s what we can bring into Qualifying. We’ve had very little running in the wet this year, Monaco was a special case because it’s normally very slippery and low deg anyway.

“But around this track, it was good to have a first taste of things in the wet because now I know the tyres better and how they work here, so that can help us for improvements to make in Qualifying.”

Turning his focus onto what might be possible in Qualifying, the AIX Racing driver is eager to keep the momentum rolling from his impressive pace shown in Spielberg one week ago.

He finished just 0.008s off Pole Sitter Dennis Hauger, and he believes the team is in a great place at this point in the season to make their strong form count.

While he admits he will be stepping into the unknown once more if things dry up in time for Qualifying, Duerksen says he will be pushing to ensure he and the team secure another top 10 start for the Sprint and Feature Races.

“Free Practice – it’s nice to be on top but it’s not always 100% representative. The team is improving a lot and we’re happy to see the results coming step-by-step. So really happy and we want to keep going like this.

“Let’s see. We don’t know what to expect with the weather and the result. So, we will just focus on doing the best job possible, maximising what we have and what we can do. If it’s dry, it’ll be my first time driving the track in the dry. So that will be a lot of learning for me.

“But let’s see. We still hope we can do a good Qualifying and be in the top 10.”