Rafa Camara took a hard-fought victory at Barcelona-Cataluyna holding off Nikola Tsolov and Alex Dunne for the Formula 2 Feature Race podium.
With a variety of strategies on display, Tsolov was able to climb through Alex Dunne and Gabriele Mini for the podium places, but Camara pitted late and was able to build a large enough gap to hold off Tsolov as he was on his late race charge.
Rafa Camara started on pole position, hoping to recover from the disaster of the Monaco weekend. Alongside him was Alex Dunne, with both looking for the advantage down the long tripe to the first corner.
Camara made a slow start off the line, with Dunne taking the lead into Turn 1. Gabriele Mini was slow off the line, stuck behind the slow Camara, losing two places.
Mini swept around the outside of Nikola Tsolov ahead, reclaiming one of the positions lost in the early corners.
It was a disastrous weekend for Ollie Goethe, who, after stalling on the grid, failed to get out of the pit lane. Goethe stopped on the side of the track, bringing out the Safety Car.
On Lap 4, Dunne led the field to green, keeping the restart clean and holding onto the lead. Rafael Villagomez had claimed third after gaining positions in the race start, but he had Mini close on his rear.
Dunne wasn’t allowed to relax as Camara was just 0.4s behind the Alpine liveried Rodin. Camara took a look at the inside of Dunne but thought the better of the move on Lap 7.
With the longer race distance in F2, there’s the added strategy of the mandatory pit stops to contend with. Villagomez complained about the condition of his soft compound tyres on Lap 8.
Mini reclaimed third
Mini was on Villagomez’s gearbox on Lap 9, looking to the outside of the VAR driver, but just not able to make it past. However, with the gap just 0.3s, the Alpine junior didn’t give up. The next lap, Mini took it around the outside of Villagome into the first corner, switching to the inside on Turn 2 and holding onto the final podium place.
Martinius Stenshorne was the first driver to come into the pits on Lap 10. It was an early stop for the Rodin driver, putting him in for a long stint for the next 27 laps.
Mari Boya was noted for a false start. As on lap 12, Villagomez came into the pit lane. While at the front, Camara and Dunne went wheel to wheel from the first turn through Turn 4.
Dunne managed to hold onto the lead, but Camara had more grip. Just as Camara looked to have an advantage, Dunne was called into the pit lane. The Alpine junior had a strong pit stop, importantly putting him out ahead of Villagomez.
However, Camara responded to Dunnes’ pit stop, posting a personal-best lap as Mini was called in for pit stops. Camara notably stayed out. Mini’s stop was slightly slower than his fellow Alpine junior, but he was safe ahead of Villagomez and not far from Dunne.
Nikola Tsolov started on the hard tyres, and as the soft-tyre runners came in, the Bulgarian was on the radio, admitting the car was feeling better and better.
Dune was noted for an unsafe release during his pit stop.
A long stint for Camara
Camara was called into the pit lane on Lap 18, the longest stint of any driver on the soft tyres. The gap was non-existent before they came into the pits. However, the team then changed their mind, keeping the Brazilian driver out.
Invicta were hoping to give Camara a few more seconds advantafe over Dunne coming out of the pits.
Dunne was making up key places, moving into seventh, and he closed the gap to Camara. On lap 22, the Brazilian was finally called into the pits, and this time the Invicta came in. It was a slow stop for Camara, losing time on the front left.
Camara came out of the pits, but he came out behind both Dunne and Mini. The Brazilian came out in ninth, behind the field of drivers who hadn’t pitted yet.
The two alpine juniors were fighting as they went side by side through the final corners. Mini dove down the inside of Dunne but had to settle for net second place.
The Irishman put his foot down, growing the gap between him and Mini, the gap between the two sitting at 1.2s on Lap 25.
Camara had got his tyres up to temperature by Lap 25, climbing through the field into fourth place as he swept around the outside of Dino Beganovic. He made quick work of Villagomez, but his sight was set on the two leading Alpine liveried cars.
Just two laps later, Camara was teetering on the edge of the Mini’s DRS range, the Invicta’s grip superior to that of the Alpines out front. The gap was dropping rapidly, with Camara on the gearbox of the Mini by the end of the lap.
Camara breezed through the field
Onto the start-finish straight, Camara used his DRS to breeze past Mini and begin on his journey to pass Dunne.
Further back in the field, Tsolov was closing on the others. His softer-compound tyres are coming alive, allowing him to cut through the field with ease. On Lap 28, the Bulgarian driver was in sixth. He had nine seconds between him and Dunne with nine laps left.
Camara had caught Dunne on Lap 29, as the Irishman complained on the radio about not having more pace than the Brazilian behind. The Invicta was 0.5s behind Dunne into Turn 10.
Onto the Start-finish straight, Camara went to the inside of Dunne, making quick work of the Irishman and moving into the lead.
Tsolov was up to fourth on Lap 31, but Camara was growing his lead, with 1.6s between him and Dunne. The Red Bull put in a personal best lap with 2 seconds to Mini in the final podium position.
Tsolov got within DRS range of Mini, with just 0.2s between them on Lap 33. The Bulgarian had a clear advantage diving on the inside on Turn 10, and Mini was unable to hold back the Red Bull junior as he moved into third.
The Bulgarian was quick to reach Dunne, just 0.3s between them on Lap 35. Much like his move on Mini, the Red Bull Junior went side by side with Dunne. Dunne wasn’t ready to give up the position as the two ran parallel from the first corner to Turn 4.
Final fight for the podium
Into the final lap, Mini broke into DRS for Dunne, looking for a final shot at the podium places and a chance to close the championship gap to Tsolov.
Camara out front took the chequered flag, securing himself an important victory for his championship campaign and his first F2 win. Tsolov ended the race second, and Dunne survived Mini’s late challenge to take third and fourth. Laurens Van Hoepen closed out the top five.
Dino Beganovic took sixth, and John Bennett took seventh. Noel Leon, Kush Maini and Roman Bilinski closed out the top ten and the point scorers.
The results put Tsolov in the championship lead, just a few points ahead of Mini.
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