Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
FIA Formula 3 championship leader Rafael Camara topped free practice at the Hungaroring while title rival Nikola Tsolov stopped on track a suspected gearbox issue.
As most drivers were accustomed to the circuit, they remained in the pits at first. Hitech GP’s Gerrard Xie and Nikita Johnson were the only drivers to head out in the first 10 minutes.
When drivers did take to the track a third of the way through the 45-minute session, MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz set the pace with a 1m35.041s. Campos Racing’s Tsolov was 0.282 seconds behind inh second.
Turn one proved to be an issue for many drivers, since the Hungaroring has recently had its pit straight redsurfaced. Xie, Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp and DAMS’ Christian Ho Xie all locked up on a very dusty stretch.
With 20 minutes to go, Camara moved to the top of the timesheet with a 1m34.138s. Tsolov improved to stay in second, 0.352s behind. Yellow flags were then briefly shown after AIX Racing’s Nicola Marinangeli spun exiting the final corner.
Those impacted the laptimes of multiple drivers, one being Camara who had been on course for a personal best. Charlie Wurz soon took over second place from Tsolov, and was just over 0.2s off team-mate Camara.
Tramnitz briefly went quickest again with a 1m34.050s, but that laptime was deleted due to track limits abuse and he dropped back to 10th. It was a Trident 1-2-3 with 10 minutes remaining, as Noah Stromsted went third fastest.
Fve minutes from the scheduled end, Tsolov stopped on the approach to turn 12 with a suspected gearbox issue. Practice concluded early, with Camara comfortably ahead of AIX’s Brad Benavides in second.
The American, who took a surprise pole last time out at Spa-Francorchamps, got within 0.064s of Camara late on.
Rodin’s Roman Bilinski was 0.265s off the pace in third, ahead of Campos Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Stromsted. Tsolobv and Tramnitz were relegated to sixth and 12th by the end.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rafael Camara | Trident | 1m33.888s | 9 | |
| 2 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | 1m33.952s | +0.064s | 13 |
| 3 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin Motorsport | 1m34.153s | +0.265s | 10 |
| 4 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos Racing | 1m34.288s | +0.400s | 11 |
| 5 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | 1m34.303s | +0.415s | 12 |
| 6 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos Racing | 1m34.317s | +0.429s | 9 |
| 7 | Charlie Wurz | Trident | 1m34.401s | +0.513s | 12 |
| 8 | Bruno del Pino | MP Motorsport | 1m34.448s | +0.560s | 10 |
| 9 | Mari Boya | Campos Racing | 1m34.541s | +0.653s | 9 |
| 10 | Ugo Ugochukwu | Prema | 1m34.558s | +0.670s | 12 |
| 11 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART Grand Prix | 1m34.583s | +0.695s | 10 |
| 12 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 1m34.619s | +0.731s | 8 |
| 13 | Noel Leon | Prema | 1m34.680s | +0.792s | 8 |
| 14 | Tuukka Taponen | ART Grand Prix | 1m34.782s | +0.894s | 10 |
| 15 | Brando Badoer | Prema | 1m34.786s | +0.898s | 12 |
| 16 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | 1m34.839s | +0.951s | 7 |
| 17 | Santiago Ramos | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m34.849s | +0.961s | 9 |
| 18 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS | 1m34.853s | +0.965s | 12 |
| 19 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 1m34.874s | +0.986s | 12 |
| 20 | Louis Sharp | Rodin Motorsport | 1m34.890s | +1.002s | 10 |
| 21 | Callum Voisin | Rodin Motorsport | 1m34.928s | +1.040s | 10 |
| 22 | Niko Lacorte | DAMS | 1m34.940s | +1.052s | 12 |
| 23 | Theophile Nael | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m34.941s | +1.053s | 8 |
| 24 | James Wharton | ART Grand Prix | 1m34.957s | +1.069s | 10 |
| 25 | James Hedley | AIX Racing | 1m34.981s | +1.093s | 11 |
| 26 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech GP | 1m35.257s | +1.369s | 15 |
| 27 | Christian Ho | DAMS | 1m35.459s | +1.571s | 12 |
| 28 | Ivan Domingues | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m35.506s | +1.618s | 10 |
| 29 | Nikita Johnson | Hitech GP | 1m35.559s | +1.671s | 15 |
| 30 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing | 1m35.571s | +1.683s | 12 |