Dunne takes F2 championship lead with Imola win

Ireland's Alex Dunne has taken the lead of the Formula 2 standings with his second win of the season at Imola.

It was a commanding drive by the McLaren Development Driver, who started from sixth on the grid.

The 19-year-old, aided by a fast pit stop by his Rodin Motorsport team, made some clinical overtakes to move into a race lead he would not relinquish with eight laps remaining.

Dunne, who becomes the first multiple race winner of the season after his victory in Bahrain in April, leads GB's Luke Browning in the standings by six points.

After starting in sixth place, Dunne jumped up to third after his pit stop on the seventh lap after a rapid service by the Rodin mechanics.

He swiftly took advantage of pole sitter Dino Beganovic running wide and pulled off a strong move on Browning to move into the net race lead at the midpoint of the race by being the first car who had not yet pitted.

A safety car for the stricken Rafael Villagomez bunched the field back up together, and Dunne made some impressive, decisive overtakes on the cars ahead to move into the lead.

He took the chequered flag by 6.5 seconds ahead of Browning while Beganovic rounded out the podium.

The next round of the Formula 2 season, which is the tier below Formula 1, takes place on the streets on Monaco next weekend.

1. Alex Dunne (Irl)

2. Luke Browning (GB)

3. Dino Beganovic (Swe)

4. Arvid Lindblad (GB)

5. Leonardo Fornaroli (Ita)

1. Alex Dunne (Irl) 64

2. Luke Browning (GB) 58

3. Richard Verschoor (Ned) 55

4. Leonardo Fornaroli (Ita) 52

5. Arvid Lindblad (GB) 45