Inthraphuvasak secures first F3 win in Silverstone sprint race

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak claimed his maiden FIA Formula 3 win in a pulsating sprint race at Silverstone.

The Campos driver converted his pole position into the race lead at the start while further back, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Theophile Nael passed DAMS driver Christian Ho for second place.

Championship contender Nikola Tsolov was caught up in an unfortunate incident as he was spun around by the Prema of Brando Badoer heading into the Loop. The Bulgarian continued but Badoer was eliminated on the spot, his Prema stricken on the inside of turn 4 and requiring a safety car to be recovered.

After three laps behind the safety car, racing resumed and Ho dropped down the order as he was passed by the Hitech of Martinius Stenshorne for third heading into the Loop.

Up front Nael was closing in on Inthraphuvasak, the gap at the end of lap 7 under a second. Heading into turn 4 Nael claimed the lead off Inthraphuvasak having held the outside line into turn 3 which quickly became the inside line for turn 4.

But, three laps later, the Frenchman was told to let the Thai driver back past because he had gained advantage off the track having run wide at turn 3 in the process of the overtake.

As Nael let Inthraphuvasak past, Stenshorne began to pile the pressure on with less than a second and a half separating the top three.

The gap began to grow though and by lap 13 Inthraphuvasak had escaped Nael’s DRS range, leaving the VAR driver to fend off the charging Stenshorne.

The challenge proved too difficult for Nael as, heading into Copse, the 18 year-old ran wide handing Stenshorne an invitation to fly down the inside into Stowe and move up into second place.

The gap upfront sat at two seconds with three laps left for the Hitech driver to catch Inthraphuvasak up ahead.

Further back Mari Boya had passed Christian Ho for fifth heading into the Loop while, on the same lap, Ugo Ugochukwu had relegated his Prema teammate Noel Leon to seventh with an impressive move around the outside of Stowe.

Having been passed by Stenshorne, Nael fell back into the clutches of Laurens Van Hopen and Mari Boya. The ART driver attempted to pass heading into Stowe but Nael remained determined into Club only to run wide. With the pair off line, Mari Boya shot through on the inside to move into the final podium position.

Despite a late charge, Inthraphuvasak remained unfazed and secured his first FIA F3 win with a 1.3-second gap to Stenshorne behind.

Boya claimed third place, his third of the season, ahead of Van Hopen in fourth. Nael finished fifth on track but a 10-second penalty relegated him out of the points.

Ugochukwu was promoted to fifth with Ho securing a season’s best finish in sixth. Leon scored his first points of the season in seventh with Rafael Camara rounding out the points scorers in front of Trident team-mate Charlie Wurz, who was urged over the radio not to fight the championship leader.

Race results (18 laps)