Rafa Câmara dominated F3 Free Practice at the Hungarian GP. Leading the field with a 1:33.888 from Brad Benavides in second and Roman Bilinski in third, as Câmara’s championship rival Nikola Tsolov brought out a red flag.
Formula 3 is in Budapest for the final round before the summer break. The season coming to a close with just a few round left means everything is to play for, for the front-runners in the championship. For Nikola Tsolov, a win is necessary to take a step closer to Rafa Câmara’s lead, while Câmara was searching to extend the gap.
Câmara could take the title this weekend, closing the championship before the season ends for the first time in the series history.
With just one practice before qualifying in the afternoon, Free Practice was the only chance for drivers to find the optimum set-up for the weekend.
The session began, and the time began ticking down, but drivers remained out of their cars and talking to teams. Waiting for the perfect time to go out. The sun was beating down on the track a stark difference to the rain.
The Hitech drivers were the first to leave the pits, with Nikita Johnson returning to the seat after Freddie Slater raced in Spa. Meanwhile, still in the pits, Nikola Tsolov was climbing into his Campos, ready to head out on track.
Early laps
Gerrad Xie crossed the line with an early time of 1:36.476. Track progression will play a role in Hungary, with the times dropping as the circuit is worn in.
With roughly 30 minutes to go, the grid slowly filed out onto the Hungaroring. Nikola Tsolov crossed the line on his first flying lap, putting in a 1:35.041. However, it was still a margin behind his fellow Red Bull Junior, Tim Tramnitz. Who managed a 1:34.619.
Other drivers crossed the line, looking to knock Tramnitz from the top spot. However, the Red Bull junior held steady until Rafa Câmara embarked on his first flying lap. With the Brazilian crossing the line half a second faster than the rest of the field with a 1:34.138.
Tsolov slotted in behind his championship rival, but the gap remained 0.352 tenths.
Roman Bilinski slotted into fifth as he crossed the line, a strong start for the Rodin rookie who was looking for retribution for the cancelled Feature race in Spa, where he should have started fourth. His time of a 1:34.626.
Câmara was on his second flying lap going even faster. The Ferrari Academy driver putting in a stunning purple sector. However, as he looked to be going even faster than his first time, a yellow flag was waved.
One of the AIX cars stopped on the side of the road by the start-finish straight. He managed to get moving again, but it was too late for Câmara’s lap.
Charlie Wurz made it a Trident 1-2, putting in a time 0.263 off his teammate out front.
Second half of the session
Tim Tramnitz took to the track, searching for a lap able to compete with Câmara. He went purple in sectors one and three, going to the top of the timings with a 1:34.050. However, in sector two the Red Bull junior went wide, risking having his lap time deleted and a few moments later it was deleted.
Wurz and Badoer both looked to find some time on track, but both failed to improve as Badoer struggled to keep his PREMA on track.
Tasanapol Inthruphuvasak moved into second, with ten minutes left in the session. His time of a 1:34.288 put him 0.400 second off Câmara who brought his time down to a 1:33.888. The margins Câmara was showing nothing short of astounding with the drivers desperately looking to keep up with the Brazilian.
Roman Bilinski went on another flying lap in his Rodin car, crossing the line with an impressive 1:34.153, making it a Rookie 1-2. However, it was short-lived as Brad Benavides crossed the line to take P2, with a 1:33.952.
Disaster struck for Nikola Tsolov, who stopped on the side of the track suffering from an issue. The worst possible start to the weekend for a championship hopeful, especially as Câmara went fastest in the session.
Free Practice was red flagged, as unlikely to resume leaving Rafa Câmara at the top of the times with a 1:33.888, followed by AIX’s Benavides and Rodin’s Roman Bilinski.
Full Results:
- R. Câmara
- B. Benavides
- R. Bilinski
- T. Inthraphuvasak
- N. Stromsted
- N. Tsolov
- C. Wurz
- B. Del Pino
- M. Boya
- U. Ugochukwu
- L. Van Hoepen
- T. Tramnitz
- N. Leon
- T. Taponen
- B. Badoer
- A. Guisti
- S. Ramos
- M. Zagazeta
- M. Stenshorne
- L. Sharp
- C. Voisin
- N. Lacorte
- T. Nael
- J. Wharton
- J. Hedley
- G. Xie
- C. Ho
- I. Domingues
- N. Johnson
- M. Marinangeli
