The F3 Sprint Race brought the routine chaos of Formula 3 to Spain. An opening lap incident saw the leading three drivers retiring from the race, as well as championship leader, Câmara. This resulted in an unprecedented 1-2 for Van Amersfoort Racing, in a team first.
After making history in the sprint race, the Van Amersfoort boys are looking to score points once again.
In today’s Feature Race, Câmara started off of pole, with driver sitting in second place in the standings, starting from 2nd beside him. Tsolov took home a podium in the Sprint Race, after he fought up from P11. He is looking to do the same today.
The fight is underway
The F3 Feature Race in Spain went green, and the drivers were off. The championship leaders were first off the start, from P1 and P2. Câmara was a successful in taking the lead of the race in Turn 1. Tsolov had a poor started dropping back immediately, landing in P8.
Van Hoepen slid into 2nd, as a few cars ran over the edge of the gravel. Ramos slowed on track, making it back to the pit lane. Ramos retired his Van Amersfoort machinery.
Ho made his move on Benavides through Turn 1, taking P18. Sharp and Voisin went through Turn 5 side by side, both making it through. Marinangeli received a 10s penalty after he was noted for his starting grid procedure. Voisin made his move on Leon, narrowly getting past him.
Garfias and Bilinski make contact, both stopped on track. Race control released the safety car. Both Garfias and Bilinski retired in yesterday’s Sprint Race, making this a tough weekend for the both of them. The stewards investigated this incident post race.
The safety car ends
After lap 7, the safety car filed back to the pit lane, and the F3 Feature Race is back underway. Câmara had a great restart, although Van Hoepen stayed on his tail. Stenshorne and Taponen go side by side through turn 1. Consequently, Stenshorne moved up and took P4. Tsolov moved up on Domingues to take P7.
Boya was noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, in lap 1 turn 1. As a result, he was handed a 10s penalty. Marinangeli was called into the pits to serve his earlier penalty. León made his move on Inthraphuvasak through turn 1, as Taponen slowed down, pulling towards the edge of the track.
Stenshorne was past by Giusti down the front straight. Tramnitz and Strømsted are noted by race control for moving under braking. Wurz continues to move further up on Benavides, dropping back and forth, unable to get past. Wurz made his way past, on lap 14.
Halfway through the F3 Feature Race in Spain
As we reached the halfway mark of the Feature Race, the leading four have found and maintained a regular gap. By lap 15, Tsolov had fought his way to P6, still 4 places down from his starting position. He looked to make a move on Stenshorne into turn 1, although aborted the attempt.
Tsolov finally committed to making the move on Stenshorne into turn 2, moving up to P5. Badoer and Benavides ran side by side through multiple turns, Benadvides running wide on the exit. This caused him to concede the place to Badoer and Lacorte.
Marinangeli was handed a stop/go penalty by race control. Badoer was spun by Lacorte, Badoer unable to move, although Lacorte continued on. Lacorte currently has 11 penalty points, so this was not an accident that will result well for him.
Another safety car
A second safety car was released due to this incident on lap 19. Lacorte and Badoer were noted by race control for this incident. It retreated to the pit lane after lap 20, a sprint to the end remained. Câmara mastered yet another safety car restart, Van Hoepen sticking to his rear again, Nael on the rear of Van Hoepen.
Nael and Van Hoepen went side by side through turns 1 and 2, Nael coming out on top, taking P2. Del Pino was shown the black and white flag for track limits. Inthraphuvasak took to the escape road, taking a position on his teammate Boya off the road. He was advised to return the position.
Race control notes Lacorte for a safety car infringement, and awards him with a 10s stop/go penalty. Benavides ran through the gravel, narrowly avoiding the wall, and dropped to P26.
Giusti takes P3 from Van Hoepen into turn 1 on the final lap. Lacorte boxed to serve his penalty.
Câmara crossed the finish line first, to take another win, extending his championship lead.
Results
1 | R. Câmara Trident
2 | T. Naël Van Amersfoort Racing
3 | A. Giusti MP Motorsport
4 | L. Van Hoepen ART Grand Prix
5 | N. Tsolov Campos Racing
6 | I. Domingues Van Amersfoort Racing
7 | T. Tramnitz MP Motorsport
8 | N. Strømsted Trident
9 | M. Stenshorne Hitech TGR
10 | J. Wharton ART Grand Prix
11 | C. Voisin Rodin Motorsport
12 | T. Inthraphuvasak Campos Racing
13 | L. Sharp Rodin Motorsport
14 | B. Del Pino MP Motorsport
15 | C. Wurz Trident
16 | C. Ho DAMS Lucas Oil
17 | M. Zagazeta DAMS Lucas Oil
18 | N. León PREMA Racing
19 | T. Taponen ART Grand Prix
20 | U. Ugochukwu PREMA Racing
21 | G. Xie Hitech TGR
22 | J. Carrasquedo Hitech TGR
23 | M. Boya Campos Racing
24 | N. Marinangeli AIX Racing
25 | B. Benavides AIX Racing
26 | N. Lacorte DAMS Lucas Oil
27 | DNF B. Badoer PREMA Racing
28 | DNF J. Garfias AIX Racing
29 | DNF R. Bilinski Rodin Motorsport
30 | DNF S. Ramos Van Amersfoort Racing
