Victory and a 2nd place for Joshua in the Italian F4 Championship at Red Bull Ring
• Joshua wins race 1 at the Red Bull Ring and finishes second in the third race
• Roland Rehfeld (Teammanager): "We had a very, very successful weekend with Joshua Dürksen. He was the racer of the weekend. Our competitors also see it that way".
Joshua drove with BWT Mücke Motorsport last weekend for the third round of the Italian F4 Championship to the Red Bull Ring in Styria.In the field of 30 drivers he presented himself convincingly. In the first race he achieved a sovereign start-finish victory and was on the podium again with 2nd place in the third race.
Already in practice and qualifying Joshua had a strong weekend ahead of him. After finishing second in the first free practice session, the 16-year-old set the fastest time in the second session. In the first qualifying session he proved that these performances were no flash in the pan and secured pole position for the first race. This took place on Saturday in the best summer weather. Joshua defended the lead with a strong start. Two early safety car phases did not let him get out of hand and he mastered the re-starts perfectly. Up to the chequered flag, Joshua had a lead of more than two seconds on the runner-up and celebrated his second victory in the Italian Formula 4. As the icing on the cake, he also delivered the fastest race lap.
In the second race Joshua had to realize that it's not only up and down the Red Bull Ring, but also in the life of a young racer. Starting from seventh place on the grid, the Paraguayan-born racer made steady progress. For most of the race he was in fifth position before he worked his way up from 20 to fourth place on lap 15. But the joy did not last long, because in the 17th lap he ran out of track and could not catch the car. He didn't make it with his spins, but he had to let most of the field pass. He still limited the damage by fighting his way up to 15th place.
In the third race Joshua convinced again with a brilliant performance and almost repeated the success of the first race. From fifth place on the grid he drove up to second place and put the leader under pressure. With only three tenths of a second behind, he finally had to admit defeat by a narrow margin. For the second time, he secured the fastest lap time.
Next on the agenda for Joshua and BWT Mücke Motorsport are two race weekends in the ADAC Formula 4. Next weekend he will start at the Hockenheimring. Only a few days later (September 24 to 27) they will drive in the supporting program of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring.
Roland Rehfeld (Teammanager):
With Joshua Dürksen we had a very, very successful weekend. In the first race he took pole position, the fastest race lap and the sovereign victory. The start was similarly sensational as at the Nürburgring. In race two he started from seventh place after technical problems with his car. He didn't let that get him down. With sensational overtaking maneuvers he fought his way up to fourth place. After a small mistake, he unfortunately only finished 15th - undeservedly. In race three Joshua finished in a strong second place, starting from fifth place. He didn't miss much to win. He was the racer of the weekend. Our competitors see it that way too. In ADAC Formula 4 we now have two races in a row. For the next race at Hockenheim, we're expecting good results. Joshua was already strong at Hockenheim during testing. With this positive basic mood we should be able to achieve something.
Photos © ACI Sport S.p.A. a socio unico
