Rafael Camara claims fourth F3 pole at Barcelona

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Rafael Camara earned his fourth FIA Formula 3 pole position of the season ahead of Nikola Tsolov at Barcelona.

Camara was more than three tenths of a second clear after the second runs in qualifying. Tsolov improved with his final lap of the session to reduce the gap to 0.216 seconds but nobody could better Camara’s time.

Tuukka Taponen was on provisional pole position after the first runs, narrowly ahead of Tasanapol Inthraphuvsak. Camara made a slight mistake at the last corner, almost losing the rear end of his Trident run car but he held on to finish the lap and go sixth.

The early lap times were quickly improved upon with the second runs as Laurens van Hoepen briefly took the top spot. Camara then improved on his time with a lap of 1m28.761s.

Camara was confident enough in his time that he waited until the rest of the field had left the pits for their final run before heading out himself. 

Many drivers found improvements on their third and final runs. The top five positions switched places multiple times and many drivers held provisional pole for the reversed-grid race before then being knocked out of the top 12. But nobody could come close to Camara’s time.

Tsolov was one of the first drivers to cross the line. His first time of the session had been deleted for exceeding track limits, and he briefly climbed up to fourth after the second run but dropped down the order again, before his final flying lap of the session put him second.

Van Hoepen’s second run was enough to secure third position. However, the ART Grand Prix driver had been noted by the stewards after he was released into the path of Matias Zagazeta earlier in the session.

A late improvement for Theophile Nael put him fourth ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing team-mate Santiago Ramos. Alessandro Giusti took sixth ahead of Ivan Domingues and Noah Stromsted.

Tim Tramnitz, who currently lies second in the championship standings, could only manage 10th fastest behind Taponen. His first time was deleted for track limits. He was briefly inside the top five after the second runs but dropped down the order as others found improvements.

Roman Bilinski appeared to take 12th and reversed-grid pole on Saturday, behind Martinius Stenshorne in 11th, only to have his best time deleted and fall to 26th. James Wharton picked up sprint race pole instead.

Qualifying results