Duncan’s 2010 Superleague Formula season kicked off with his debut for Brazilian Club Flamengo following his recent signing with management company CJ Motorsport.

Having had little Superleague running in 2009 he made his way swiftly up the learning curve in practice and qualifying. Duncan finished third in his group qualifying session before getting knocked out at the quarter final stage. His speed was enough to give him a very credible fifth grid slot.

With a drying track for the race start, Duncan held position, took time to learn where the grippy and slippy places were on the track and kept to a sensible pace for the conditions. On lap one he managed to pass FC Porto and a lap two spin from Liverpool put Duncan up in second place. After being one of the first cars to make the compulsory pit stop Duncan took his car back up to second.

With thirteen minutes to go of the 45 minute race, AC Milan’s Yelmer Buurman managed to pass as Duncan suffered with graining on the front left tyre of his new set. For the remainder of the race Duncan drove defensively to preserve his position and did just that. Despite serious pressure from the FC Porto car of Alvaro Parente Duncan crossed the line in third place.

The second race was more frustrating with reverse grid rules putting Duncan 14th on the grid. Duncan fought battles in a strong pack, including skilled passing of Bordeaux’s Franck Montagny and Sporting Club de Portugal’s Borja Garcia. Again Duncan didn’t have the front end grip he wanted, particularly on his second set of tyres and had to fight hard from start to finish. He crossed the line in 12th place which put him one position short of a Super Final place where the top six points finishers compete for ultimate event victory and over €200,000.

Duncan said: “It feels like being back home here at Silverstone and in the Superleague car. Without a regular drive last year I knew I’d be a bit rusty but it’s all coming back quickly. Race one was tricky and it paid to be sensible. It would have been great to have held onto second but after the first few laps after the pit stop I had trouble with grip so third wasn’t too bad.

“The second race was very frustrating. I didn’t get a good start and I just didn’t have the pace I needed. I need to look at the data and next time out make the Super Final.”

•   Filed under: Superleague Formula
•   Tagged as: CJ Motorsport, Flamengo, podium finishes, Silverstone