A brilliantly judged drive by Alex Dunne took him to a second-place finish in the Monaco Grand Prix and put his Formula Two title ambitions right back in track.Dunne also becomes the first Irish driver to make the podium in the historic Monaco event, the 20-year-old from Offaly moving from third position into second after 35 of 42 race laps. He’s now up to fourth place in the championship standings, level on points with his Rodin Motorsport team-mate Martinius Stenshorne.In perfect racing conditions at the old Principality, Dunne started in third place on the grid, the two front row spots taken by Brazil’s Rafael Camara and Nikola Tsolov from Bulgaria. A relatively calm start meant that trio retained their positions throughout the early laps, before Camara locked up on the first corner of lap 35, Tsolov taking full advantage to slip into the lead.Dunne, driving patiently behind, also took advantage by moving into second. In the end he finished nine seconds down on Tsolov, the 19-year-old from Campos Racing claiming his third victory of the season, also enjoying two previous wins in Monaco in the F3 championship. Dino Beganovic from Sweden completed the podium in third, 26 seconds behind Tsolov.It was also a redemption of sorts for Dunne, who started in pole position in Monaco this time last year, only to crash out in the first corner at Sainte Dévote, triggering an 11-car pile-up that brought seven drivers’ races to an early end. The race stewards later deemed Dunne wholly responsible.Dunne had started Sunday’s round four event, the first European stop of the season, sitting seventh in the championship standings, 27 points behind Gabriele Minì from Italy. The 18 points won here moves him up to fourth, on 48 points, level with Stenshorne, who finished the day in 10th. Minì was unable to score here and remains on 63 points, just ahead of Tsolov (62).After enduring the worst possible start in the opening round in Melbourne back in March – Dunne crashing into Stenshorne after just two laps, forcing both drivers off the track – the Irish driver regained some momentum with a third-place finish in Montreal two weeks ago.The racing continues unabated this weekend with round five set for Barcelona, where last season Dunne regained the F2 championship lead, before eventually finishing the season fifth overall. But there’s still a long way to go before the 14th and final round in Abu Dhabi in December.This season Dunne is also part of the Alpine F1 Team academy, who are obliged to offer their young drivers four F1 practice sessions throughout the season.Eddie Irvine did achieve two F1 podium finishes in Monaco – second in 1999 and third in 1998 while racing for Ferrari – although the Co Down-born driver was racing under the British flag. Dublin-born Derek Daly did come very close to a an F1 podium finish in Monaco back in 1982, before a mechanical failure on the closing laps meant he finished sixth.