Rafael Câmara Dominates To Take Second F3 Victory Of The Season In Sakhir

TRIDENT’s Rafael Câmara was in supreme form on Sunday afternoon, converting a second Pole Position into a second Feature Race victory of the season in an action-packed Sakhir Feature Race.

The Brazilian lost the lead at the start to Callum Voisin but took the place back on Lap 5, before going on to win by over six seconds. The Rodin Motorsport driver finished second, while MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz took the final spot on the podium from 13th on the grid.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was a great start for Voisin who got ahead of Câmara on the brakes at Turn 1, while Charlie Wurz kept a hold of third ahead of DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho.

Tuukka Taponen was also on the move for ART Grand Prix. From sixth, he got ahead of Bruno del Pino at the start, before overtaking Ho for fourth into Turn 4 on Lap 2.

Onto Lap 3, Câmara and Wurz had closed in on the back of Voisin, with the former using DRS to get ahead into Turn 1. However, the Rodin driver’s switchback move got him back ahead at Turn 4.

Câmara eventually got ahead on Lap 5, making the same move on Voisin at Turn 1, the Briton unable to get ahead at Turn 4 this time despite his attempts to do so.

Wurz and Taponen were now battling for P3, allowing Voisin and Câmara to disappear up the road. The ART driver eventually got ahead, later on the brakes at Turn 1 on Lap 7.

Further behind, Alessandro Giusti got himself ahead of Noel León for P11 at the same corner. He made a similar move at Turn 1 on the following lap on another PREMA Racing driver, Brando Badoer, for P10.

TRIDENT then came on the radio to tell Wurz to stay with Taponen, but at the same time, his teammate Noah Stromsted was coming under threat from Ho and Tramnitz for P5.

The Dane fended off Ho, before the DAMS driver ran wide at Turn 2. This opened the door for Tramnitz to get ahead on the run to Turn 4. On the next lap, the Singaporean lost another position to Nikola Tsolov at the next corner.

Another driver showing tremendous pace was Mari Boya. The Campos Racing driver overtook Badoer for P11 after starting the race down in 20th.

Tramnitz and Tsolov then got ahead of Stromsted for fifth and sixth, while Giusti overtook his MP teammate del Pino for P9.

As Lap 14 of 22 started, Câmara was three and a half seconds clear of Voisin, who was 2.4s in front of Taponen. A DRS train had now formed behind the ART driver, with Wurz, Tramnitz, Tsolov, and Stromsted all in the fight for the podium.

After trying for several laps to get ahead of Wurz, Tramnitz eventually got ahead of the TRIDENT driver by going round the outside at Turn 4 on Lap 17.

Taponen had been able to pull out a one second advantage due to the fighting behind him, but Tramnitz closed the gap before pulling off another move round the outside at Turn 4 on Lap 19 for third.

Wurz had now dropped to P6 after being overtaken by Tsolov, and was coming under attack from his teammate, Stromsted.

The Austrian was struggling on tyres and lost out to Stromsted, Giusti, Boya, Ho, and del Pino, and by the start of the final lap, was out of the points in P11.

Out in front though, Câmara was over six seconds clear across the line as he went on to win his second Feature Race of the season. Voisin finished in P2, while Tramnitz ended up in third for MP.

Taponen was able to hold off Tsolov to finish fourth, while Stromsted ended up in P6 ahead of Giusti. Boya completed his comeback drive to end up in eighth, with del Pino in P9 and Ho taking the final points in P10.

Rafael Câmara, TRIDENT

“Just finished the race in Bahrain, quite happy with the result, the team did an amazing job. I had a very good car for the race, after yesterday it was a good comeback, very happy with the result, thanks a lot to the team and now we keep our heads down for the next round.”

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Rafael Câmara continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship on 56 points, with MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz now in second, on 30 points. In third is Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin and TRIDENT’s Noah Stromsted as they are tied on 27 points, while Nikola Tsolov rounds out the top five for Campos Racing on 23.

In the Teams’ Championship, TRIDENT lead the way on 93 points, while MP Motorsport are second on 42. Two points behind in third are Campos Racing, with Rodin Motorsport fourth on 37 points, as Van Amersfoort Racing round out the top five on 29.

UP NEXT

The drivers and teams now have a slight break before heading back to Europe for Round 3 of the 2025 season in Imola from May 16-18.