Camara claims second straight F2 pole, leading Invicta 1-2 in Barcelona

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Rafael Camara made it back-to-back Formula 2 pole positions as he led team-mate Joshua Duerksen in an Invicta Racing one-two in Barcelona qualifying.

Championship leader Gabriele Mini was first to set a representative laptime, a 1m25.652s sending the Italian to the top of the timesheets. It wasn’t long though before the MP Motorsport driver was toppled, Alex Dunne flying to the front with a 1m25.528s.

The Irishman’s laptime was quickly deleted for track limits though, leaving Duerksen free to claim top spot with a 1m25.441s, 0.003 seconds clear of Hitech’s Ritomo Miyata.

The Japanese driver’s team-mate though found more pace: fresh from his debut Formula 1 free practice appearance with Cadillac, Colton Herta soared to the front with a 1m25.387s.

The American’s stint at the top was short lived as Nikola Tsolov moved to the front with a 1m25.222s putting the Bulgarian 0.165s clear.

Kush Maini shot up the order to second, 0.042s behind the Campos driver, before Camara set two purple sectors and moved to the front of the field with a 1m24.810s.

Van Amersfoort Racing began to show some strong pace, Rafael Villagomez moving into second with a 1m25.183s while his teammate, Nico Varrone, set a 1m25.237s, good enough for fourth overall.

Behind them, Mini found time to improve to second, 0.334s behind Camara, before Dunne and Duersken both improved, the later tucking into second with a 1m24.945s.

With four minutes remaining, Miyata found the gravel in bizarre fashion at the final corner brining out the red flags.

When running resumed many teams remained reluctant to return for the final four minutes with track conditions evolving rapidly. Emmo Fittipaldi and Oliver Goethe were the only improvements, securing 17th and 15th respectively.

The stoppage meant Camara was able to clinch home to his second F2 pole position ahead of Duerksen. Dunne held off Mini to claim third while Villagomez rounded out the top five.

Off the back of two successive sprint race victories, Noel Leon once more secured reversed-grid pole and will start Saturday’s race ahead of Maini and Herta.

Qualifying results