Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak secured his first Formula 3 win in the Sprint Race at Silverstone after starting from pole position.
The impressive performance saw Inthraphuvasak hold off fierce competition from Theophile Nael and Martinius Stenshorne to claim a memorable victory and a 1-3 finish for Campos Racing.
Stenshorne climbed from sixth on the grid to take second place with Mari Boya completing the top three – both clinching back-to-back podium finishes in F3.
The Campos driver started the race from pole ahead of DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho on the front row.
Championship leader Rafael Camara lined up 10th on the grid, with title rival Tim Tramnitz starting eighth and Sunday’s polesitter Nikola Tsolov back in 12th.
Inthraphuvasak maintains the lead as Tsolov tumbles down the order
The Thai driver held his lead into Turn 1 as Nael jumped up to second ahead of Ho.
Further back, the other Campos of Tsolov was hit by Prema Racing’s Brando Badoer, who made a lunge at Turn 2 but caught Tsolov on the exit.
Tsolov was able to continue, but Badoer retired on the spot, leaving the title contender to rejoin the order down in 29th.
The Trident trio of Camara, Charlie Wurz, and Noah Stromsted scrapped through Maggots, Becketts, and onto the Hangar Straight, with Wurz eventually coming out on top just as the Virtual Safety Car was deployed to clear Badoer’s stricken Prema.
Moments later, the VSC was upgraded to a full Safety Car.
The Austrian was warned by Trident over the team radio to go easy with his team-mate Camara after a few close calls battling hard on Lap 1.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 4 with the running order: Inthraphuvasak, Nael, Ho, Stenshorne, Laurens van Hoepen, Noel Leon, Boya, Tramnitz, Ugo Ugochukwu, and Wurz.
Stenshorne immediately pounced at Turn 1, diving past Ho to snatch third, while Camara made quick work of Wurz to climb back into the top 10.
Nael grabs top spot but forced to relinquish it
On Lap 6, Nael took the race lead as he went around the outside of the Campos driver, emerging ahead on the exit of Turn 2.
However, the Frenchman ran off the track at Turn 1 in the process, with the incident noted to determine whether he was forced wide or gained an advantage.
Ho slipped to fifth soon after, as van Hoepen pulled off a superb dive into Vale to snatch fourth place.
As Inthraphuvasak applied the pressure to Nael on Lap 10, Van Amersfoort Racing ordered its driver to give the place back, the 19-year-old taking the race lead back.
Stenshorne made it a three-way fight at the front as further back, Tramnitz lost multiple positions, dropping to 11th and out of the points.
By Lap 13, Inthraphuvasak had broken clear of Nael’s DRS threat, while Stenshorne piled the pressure on the VAR driver just behind.
Further back, Ugochukwu got the better of team-mate Leon to move into seventh, as Boya dispatched Ho for fifth.
One lap later, Stenshorne made a decisive move on the Hangar Straight, cruising past Nael for second and setting his sights on the leading Campos.
Ugochukwu continued his charge, moving up to sixth as Ho slipped further down the order after starting on the front row.
Inthraphuvasak holds off Stenshorne as Boya snatches podium in chaotic finale
Van Hoepen then went wheel-to-wheel with Nael for the final podium spot at the end of the Hangar Straight, but both ran wide through Vale, opening the door for Boya to snatch third.
Stenshorne continued to chase down Inthraphuvasak heading into the final lap, but he managed to hold off the threat and clinch his first victory in the junior series.
Boya completed the podium whilst Nael dropped out of the points after being handed a 10-second time penalty by the race stewards.
He was deemed to have left the track and gained an advantage with his fight with van Hoepen through Turns 16 and 17.
The ART driver finished fourth ahead of Ugochukwu in fifth place, Ho sixth, Leon seventh, Camara eighth, Wurz ninth and Roman Bilinksi in 10th.
The Rodin Motorsport driver started the race from 16th and fought back to claim the final point in the Sprint.
READ MORE – Nikola Tsolov claims F3 Feature Race pole at Silverstone after Austria setback
