Photo: Eurocup-3
MP Motorsport had the perfect afternoon at Estoril on Sunday as they clinched a lockout of the podium in Eurocup-3 race two.
It was an all-Campos fight for pole in the morning, with Esteban Masson and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak continually trading top spot. Eventually Inthraphuvasak came out on top, his final lap putting him back ahead of Masson by 0.248 seconds.
MP’s Mari Boya was a further 0.041s slower in third place, and his team-mate Bruno del Pino went fourth fastest with his final lap. Sebastian Ogaard, Masson’s closest title rival, was half a second off the pace in fifth.
Boya made the strongest start in the race but the two Campos drivers ahead immediately swept to the inside to cover him off. At turn one Masson moved back to the outside and overtook his team-mate at turn two, while Boya demoted Inthraphuvasak at Curva VIP.
Masson already had a 1.8s lead at the end of lap one, and was three seconds clear of Boya on lap four when the safety car was summoned due to Jorge Campos beaching his car on a kerb after a clash with Daniel Mavlyutov.
The restart did not take place until lap eight, and Masson left it as late as possible to return to racing speeds. He weaved multiple times down the pit straight before accelerating, and was put under investigation by the stewards.
Inthraphuvasak was passed by Sebastian Ogaard and then Bruno del Pino as he went off track twice, while Masson streaked away again. He built a lead of 1.2s, but then that started to be reduced by Boya and he was only a third of a second ahead when he served a drive-through penalty at the end of lap 13.
That left Boya comfortably at the front of an MP 1-2-3-4, until the last lap when Inthraphuvasak reclaimed fourth from del Pino. Jose Garfias finished third, having passed Javier Sagrera early on and then del Pino and Inthraphuvasak mid-race.
Masson recovered one spot after exiting the pits in 15th, but his non-score means his championship lead over Ogaard has now been reduced to five points. Boya is one further point behind.
Race result (18 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | 32m21.232s |
| 2 | Sebastian Ogaard | MP Motorsport | +6.111s |
| 3 | Jose Garfias | MP Motorsport | +6.796s |
| 4 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos Racing | +11.955s |
| 5 | Bruno del Pino | MP Motorsport | +13.195s |
| 6 | Javier Sagrera | Palou Motorsport | +16.648s |
| 7 | Francesco Braschi | Campos Racing | +17.392s |
| 8 | Nick Gilkes | Drivex School | +17.997s |
| 9 | Sebastian Gravlund | MP Motorsport | +19.555s |
| 10 | Dario Cabanelas | Sainteloc Racing | +22.073s |
| 11 | Emmo Fittipaldi | GRS | +22.352s |
| 12 | Suleiman Zanfari | Campos Racing | +24.897s |
| 13 | Daniel Nogales | Drivex School | +25.677s |
| 14 | Esteban Masson | Campos Racing | +32.297s |
| 15 | Daniel Mavlyutov | GRS | +38.176s |
| 16 | Miron Pingasov | Palou Motorsport | +1 lap |
| Ret | Jorge Campos | Palou Motorsport | |
| Pole: Inthraphuvasak, 1m34.563s Fastest lap: Boya, 1m35.166s
Championship standings |
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