Nael claims dominant maiden F3 win in Barcelona feature race

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Campos Racing’s Theophile Nael claimed a dominant victory in FIA Formula 3’s Barcelona feature race to secure his maiden win.

The Frenchman led home Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi and his own championship leading team-mate Ugo Ugochukwu.

Nael converted his third pole position of the season into the race lead at turn 1 while behind him, Ugochukwu struggled to get away, losing out to Yamakoshi into the first corner.

Trident’s Freddie Slater too made up positions, passing Enzo Deligny and Ernesto Rivera for sixth place.

A virtual safety car briefly halted running as debris was recovered following contact between Hitech’s Michael Shin and AIX Racing’s Yevan David.

Nael and Yamakoshi then began to pull away from the rest of the field, the Japanese driver remaining within DRS range but still unable to make a move.

The duo’s gap was quickly slashed as the VSC was called into action once more following a collision between the DAMS duo of Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi and Nicola Lacorte, the later ending up stationary at turn 10.

VAR continued to show strong pace at the restart, Bruno Del Pino pressuring Ugochukwu for the final step on the podium while his team-mate Yamakoshi held firm behind the leading Campos of Nael.

Come lap 16 the home hero’s pressure on Ugochukwu paid off as Del Pino capitalised on an error by the American driver into the final corner, snatching third place away. Up front, Nael began to pull clear of Yamakoshi, breaking DRS range with just a handful of laps left.

It took just four laps though for Ugochukwu to find his way past Del Pino once more, using DRS to cruise past the Spaniard who was beginning to struggle with his tyres.

Del Pino continued to struggle, losing out to Rodin’s Brando Badoer and team-mate Deligny and dropping to sixth.

At the front though, Nael was free to claim a home race win for Campos along with his maiden F3 victory. Yamakoshi claimed the second step on the podium while Ugochukwu settled for third.

Badoer took fourth while Deligny rounded out the top five after a late move on his team-mate Del Pino who held off Rivera and Slater, whose five second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in the opening laps dropped him to eighth.

Race results (25 laps)