What a wild weekend in Baku for Alexander Dunne. The Irish driver walked away from Azerbaijan with three podium finishes, including a dominant win in Feature Race 1, yet somehow found himself slightly downbeat when the dust settled.
That lingering disappointment came down to a five-second time penalty in the second Feature Race. Having originally crossed the line first, that penalty for crossing the white line ahead of pit lane entry dropped him down to third in the official classification. It is a harsh way to lose a win, but when you look at the raw speed, the weekend was nothing short of spectacular for Rodin Motorsport.
Dunne kicked things off by putting his machine on pole position for Qualifying 1. In Feature Race 1, he turned that pace into a commanding victory, crossing the line 4.3s ahead of his teammate Martinius Stenshorne. Starting from pole in Baku is never easy with those long DRS straights, but a strong start and some early infighting between Martinius and Noel allowed Dunne to break the DRS zone and control the rhythm.
Feature Race 2 proved far more complex. Running second behind Stenshorne, Dunne pitted early after anticipating a Virtual Safety Car. Because teammates cannot pit on the exact same lap when running one-two, the early stop was forced upon him, and he admitted he would have preferred to stay out on track given his raw pace and tyre feeling.
Despite the frustration over Saturday's penalty, the championship picture has completely shifted. Dunne arrived in Baku 38 points adrift of the leader, but stellar pace across all conditions—from free practice to qualifying and every race—has slashed that gap down to just 18 points with two rounds remaining. He is now within striking distance of the title.
"We're definitely in the fight," Dunne said. Yet, he is refusing to get ahead of himself. Having completely switched off from the championship idea three or four rounds ago, his strategy remains simple: take it round by round, focus on the immediate results, and keep up that impressive qualifying form that has served Rodin Motorsport so well all year.
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