Camara claims Silverstone pole in pulsating Formula 2 qualifying

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Rafael Camara claimed Formula 2 pole position at Silverstone, leading Rodin’s Alex Dunne and ART’s Kush Maini in a pulsating qualifying.

The result is Camara’s third pole of the season having missed out on a third consecutive pole last time out in Austria.

Championship leader Gabriele Mini stormed to the front early doors with a 1m41.437s before the DAMS duo of Roman Bilinski and Dino Beganovic toppled the Italian, Bilinski leading the duo with a 1m41.123s.

Despite a challenging practice, Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov split the pair before both Kush Maini and Tasanapol Inthraphuvusak found time in their ARTs to go first and third respectively.

Maini’s time of a 1m40.764s became the time to beat; both Van Amersfoort Racing drivers improved to within two tenths of the ART driver, Rafael Villagomez’s time of a 1.40.951 leaving him 0.187s behind while his teammate Nico Varrone sat in third, a further 0.155s adrift.

Having had his earlier lap deleted for a track limits violation, Rodin’s Alex Dunne improved to top spot with a 1m40.536s, leaving him 0.228s ahead of Maini with Invicta Racing’s Camara tucking into third with a 1m40.771s.

With 15 minutes to go drivers returned to the pits, Dunne comfortably on top with Maini fractionally ahead of Camara by 0.007s.

The penultimate set of runs kicked off with Oliver Goethe flying to the top early on before teammate Mini snatched it away from him with a 1m40.382s.

All eyes were on Tsolov though who snatched pole away from his championship rival with a 1m39.972s; a lap he described as “the lap of his life” over the radio only for Bilinski to demote the Bulgarian to second with a 1m39.967s.

Maini was the next to take to the front with a 1m39.892s before Camara moved ahead with a 1m39.690s. The Ferrari junior’s time proved untouchable, Dunne only managing second with a 1m39.891s as the Irishman tucked in behind.

With two minutes remaining the top seven all opted to return to the pits, unable to improve on their best lap times. That meant that Camara was able to claim pole in the pit lane over Dunne who, despite his dominance in practice, was unable to beat the Brazilian.

Maini secured third making it an Alpine academy two-three with Bilinski claiming a season-best starting position of fourth. Tsolov managed to salvage fifth.

Despite a tricky session for the MP Motorsport driver, Mini claimed 10th which will translate into reversed-grid pole for Saturday’s sprint race. He will line up alongside Hitech’s Ritomo Miyata, the Japanese driver claiming his first top 10 start of 2026 ahead of Sunday’s feature race.

Qualifying results