ROOKIE SEASON ENDS WITH POINT IN MONZA

Josh Dufek signed off his rookie FIA Formula 3 campaign this weekend at the iconic Monza circuit, where the Austrian demonstrated his raw talent by earning his best qualifying result of the season. But with a championship to seal, the racing reached it’s crescendo with a thrilling final all-out battle for championship points that saw Josh right in the thick of the action. 

Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is one of the most iconic and revered circuits in the world, known  as the ’Temple of Speed’. With fast sweeping corners, tricky chicanes and intense wheel-to-wheel action, the historic Italian circuit provided the perfect setting for the Austrian driver’s final charge. Fresh from the summer break, Josh was refreshed and energised heading into the final race weekend of the 2024 season, eager to end his campaign with a strong performance.

Strongest qualifying of the season

With previous years proving to be a bit more of a traffic jam than a qualifying session with the field of 30 drivers vying for track position. The decision was made to split the qualifying session into 2 groups. Josh took to the track in Group A and once he found his gap on track he nailed in an impressive lap to shoot to the top of the timings. Despite other drivers improving, his lap proved to be good enough to finish 4th in group which netted him a P7 starting position for the Feature Race. However with many called to the stewards following the session, 11 drivers from Group A received a grid drop of four positions for being deemed to have driven unnecessarily slowly between Turns 6 and 7. The result of which demoted Josh to start P10 for the Sprint Race. 

Tyre troubles

Lining up for the sprint race on Saturday morning, Josh made a solid start, holding his own as the field hurtled into notoriously tricky opening corner. As the initial battles unfolded, Josh made his way up into P9 ready to bring the fight to those ahead. However, his charge was soon hampered when he suffered a lock-up into Turn 1, forcing him to take the escape road and costing him two positions. With a significant flat spot on his tyres, the rest of the race looked to be an uphill battle for the rookie racer. Before too long the safety car was deployed following an incident between Bedrin and Leon who both became beached in the gravel. Once racing resumed, Josh locked into a fierce wheel-to-wheel battle with his teammate, the pair leaving just inches between their cars as they locked into a thrilling fight for points. 

Despite his best efforts, the AIX driver continued to struggle with his car’s handling and had to take the escape road once again to avoid a collision. With the tyres degrading further, it was ultimately deemed safer to retire the car which a disappointing end to his Sprint race.

Fierce fighting in the finale

Having earned his best qualifying performance of the season, Josh Dufek was in prime position to fight for points in the final race of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 season. Pushing from P7 the Austrian driver was eager as ever to battle for points once the lights went out. 

In what proved to be a chaotic and dramatic race from start to finish, Josh initially lost two places in the opening stages slipping to P9 as he aimed to keep his nose clean and pick up places where he could. 

Running side-by-side with teammate Inthraphuvasak as the pair fought to take points in the final laps of the season, Josh was forced into the dust and briefly lost a position to Browning, but managed to take the position back when his rival ran wide. 

However it soon seemed that the AIX driver was struggling to keep within shooting distance of the cars in front, before an unfortunate lock up complicated his progress further. 

“Unfortunately I suffered a similar issue in Spa where the oil temperature was running too high, which seemed to return in the feature race. So I stayed out of trouble and hoped a safety car period would make it a bit easier for us. However on Lap 13 I locked up and lost all pace from then on.”

Josh kept his calm in contrast to the chaotic nature of the race, fighting hard to stay in the points. Unfortunately he was unable to hold onto his final points-paying position and eventually crossed the line in P11. But a post-race disqualification handed to a driver ahead of him, Josh was promoted to P10 and earned his first point of the season to sign off his campaign. 

“It was a pretty bad race unfortunately, with the pace we had qualifying we expected to be able to move forward and maybe be fighting for P5. But the pace just wasn’t there today and I struggled with power out of the corners. Overall we extracted the most we could, the car setup and balance felt good, but the power wasn’t there which is something you need in Monza.”

Looking forward to the next chapter…

Throughout a season that showcased his fortitude to battle back from some disappointing results, Josh looked back on a tough rookie season where luck never quite was on his side.

“The season hasn’t been what we wanted. I believe that I have the ability to be in the top ten and unfortunately we had our challenges across the whole season which meant it wasn’t possible. I’m confident that I made the most of the package we had and I will work hard in the off-season to be back fighting forward in 2025.”

“Thanks to all the team and my sponsors for supporting me throughout a tough rookie year in FIA Formula 3.”