Câmara Takes His First Win In Barcelona: F2 Feature Race Recap
- therookiereporters
- Jun 16
- 2 min read
This Sunday it was time for the Formula 2 Feature Race in Barcelona, and it was less about the speed but more about the tire strategy. On a track which is known for destroying tyres, the hot asphalt of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya showed us a pure strategic drama.
Strategic Split
Rafael Câmara who races for Invicta Racing started from pole position, but a bad launch of the line changed the whole running order, giving Alex Dunne to get past and get the lead into Turn 1. Behind them, the field was packed tight together as Gabriele Miní and Nikola Tsolov went wheel-to-wheel through during the start of the race.
It was a chaotic race with fast deteriorating tire grip, splitting the field based on pit strategy. Dunne and Miní chose to pit early in the race to get rid of their fading soft tires, while Câmara had an overcut strategy. Câmara got out some good laps on the old rubber when it mattered the most, staying out for 22 laps before making his stop.
The Fresh Rubber Charge
Because of the late stop, Câmara had a 10-lap tyre advantage. With that advantage he was shaving tenths off the lead with each lap, and eventually getting past Miní and taking a dive into Turn 1 to get the lead backing from Dunne. Once in the clean air, Câmara started to pull away from the pack and he turned his pole into a first win in F2.
Behind him, Tsolov did his own late-race charge. Using his advantage of being on a fresh set of soft tires, he pulled off a brave move around the outside of Dunne into Turn 3 to claim second place. Dunne kept defending for the final podium spot, and successfully kept Miní behind him during the last lap, and crossed the line in third.
Top 10 results
Rafael Câmara
Alexander Dunne
Gabriele Miní
Nikola Tsolov
Laurens Van Hoepen
Dino Beganovic
John Bennett
Noel León
Kush Maini
Roman Bilinski
Article Written by Zoë Wokke
