Trident driver Rafael Camara continued his dominant run in the Formula 3 Championship by securing his third Feature Race victory of the season in Spain.
The 20-year-old converted another pole position into victory ahead of Theophile Nael, who returns to the podium for Van Amersfoort Racing, another podium for the Dutch team this weekend.
Alessandro Giusti of MP Motorsport completed the top three and secured his first podium finish in F3.
Championship leader Camara began the Feature Race from pole position, lining up ahead of his title rival, Nikola Tsolov.
Tim Tramnitz, originally set to start in 10th place, was demoted to 13th on the grid after receiving a three-place penalty for the opening lap collision during the Sprint Race.
The German driver was deemed fully responsible by the stewards for the incident at Turn 1 involving himself, Martinius Stenshorne and Roman Bilinski.
Camara gets off the line well to preserve his lead
Tsolov initially got a good start in the first phase alongside Camara, but he bogged down, slipping down the order from second to eighth place.
Santiago Ramos from fifth on the grid also lost places after taking to the kerb into Turn 1 whilst racing hard with Stenshorne, forcing him to retire his Van Amersfoort Racing car.
Meanwhile, his team-mate Nael moved up to third place, on course to take his first podium in the series.
On Lap 3, the Rodin Motorsport of Bilinski and Jose Garfias collided between Turns 3 and 4.
Although replays missed the initial contact, the Polish driver reported over team radio that he had been rear-ended.
Bilinski then spun and collided again with the AIX Racing car, leaving both drivers tangled at the side of the track
The Safety Car was called into action and the racing action wouldn’t resume until the end of Lap 7.
Heading into Lap 8, the top order stood as: Camara, Laurens van Hoepen, Nael, Tukka Taponen, Stenshorne, Giusti, Ivan Domingues, Tsolov, Tramnitz and Noah Stromsted in 10th place.
Into Turn 1, Stenshorne made his way past Taponen into fourth place as Tsolov took seventh place off Domingues.
Taponen suffers mechanical problem, dropping down the order
The Finnish driver began to slow down with an apparent issue, slipping down the order from fifth place — a significant setback to his championship aspirations.
This promoted Tsolov into sixth, another place gained in his fight back to the front of the grid.
Whatever the issue was for Taponen, it seemed to resolve itself, allowing him to rejoin the fight at the back of the field.
Mari Boya, who now occupied 10th place, received a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
On Lap 11, the MP Motorsport driver Giusti climbed up into fourth past Stenshorne on the pit straight.
The top three were all within a second of each other, as Camara continued to control the pace at the front.
Tsolov struggled to get a good run on Stenshorne to take fifth place; however, after a few laps stuck behind the Norwegian, he made his way past on Lap 17.
Soon after, Domingues also overtook Stenshorne for sixth place, and at the same time, Nicola Lacorte rear-ended Brando Badoer into Turn 1, the latter retiring from the race.
The Italian accused the PREMA Racing driver of moving under braking, as the Safety Car returned to clear the stricken car on Lap 18.
On Lap 20, the FIA called an end to the Safety Car, the Feature Race set for a five-lap shootout to the end of the race.
Trident race leader handles second restart perfectly
Nael pulled off a brilliant overtake on van Hoepen into the first corner, diving down the inside as the two went wheel-to-wheel — miraculously avoiding contact.
This move gave Camara the chance to break away, quickly building a lead of more than a second over the Frenchman.
The Campos pair of Boya and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak squabbled for 10th on track, the Thai racing driver overtaking off the track and was ordered to give the position back to his team-mate by the Spanish squad.
Lacorte received a 10-second time penalty for the incident and a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for a Safety Car infringement, almost certain to result in a race ban with 11 points on his licence.
On the penultimate lap, Camara continued to lead out at the front, the closest fight being the battle for third between van Hoepen, Giusti and Tsolov.
The MP Motorsport driver had initially dropped off van Hoepen, but closed in once again to take third place off the ART driver on Lap 24.
Camara crossed the line to take the Spanish Feature Race win, ahead of Nael in second and Giusti in third.
Van Hoepen settled for fourth, Tsolov recovering to fifth after his poor start and Saturday’s race winner Domingues in sixth place.
Tramnitz climbed up into seventh after his grid penalty demoted him down the order, Stromsted in eighth and Stenshorne eventually crossing the line in ninth place.
Finally, Callum Voisin ended the race in 10th place for Rodin Motorsport, clinching the final point-scoring position on Sunday, after James Wharton received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
READ MORE – Ivan Domingues capitalises on opening lap chaos for maiden F3 victory in Spain
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