SPRINT RACE: Home favourite Boya takes maiden Formula 3 victory in Barcelona

Mari Boya claimed victory on home soil with the Campos Racing driver winning a dramatic Barcelona Sprint Race to take the first Formula 3 win of his career.

The Spaniard survived a Safety Car restart and an attack from MP Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne late on as he crossed the line in first. The Irishman ended up in second, scoring his first F3 podium, ahead of another Campos in Oliver Goethe in third.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was as you were at the start with Trident’s pole-sitter Santiago Ramos leading teammate Sami Meguetounif away with the home favourite Boya in third ahead of MP’s Dunne.

But there was plenty of battling in the midfield with Christian Mansell, Gabriele Minì, Luke Browning and Nikola Tsolov going four-wide down the main straight, with the Australian driver taking 13th ahead of his rivals.

Ramos and Meguetounif were now squabbling for the lead at the start of Lap 3, but the Trident pair collided at Turn 1. The Frenchman spun off while the former was forced to pit with a puncture.

This promoted Boya into the lead ahead of Dunne and Goethe, but the Safety Car was quickly called upon with Callum Voisin and Nikita Bedrin stopping on track after colliding at the same corner.

The action resumed on Lap 7 and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel León was on the move again. The Mexican driver got past Arvid Lindblad at Turn 5, putting him sixth after starting in P13.

Lindblad was struggling at the restart with Leonardo Fornaroli and PREMA Racing teammate Dino Beganovic later overtaking him, dropping him in P9.

As Lap 10 got underway, Dunne was now right on the back of Boya, with Goethe just behind. They had separated themselves from the field as Martinius Stenshorne made the move past Laurens van Hoepen for P4, with León later following him through to fifth.

On Lap 14 of 21, a DRS train had now been formed from Boya in the lead to Sebastián Montoya in the final points paying position – the Colombian having gone from P27 on the grid to P12.

But it was soon to be bad news for the Campos driver after he made slight contact with Minì at the exit of Turn 4. The PREMA driver sustained a puncture causing him to lose control of his car which sent him into Montoya, with both ending up in the gravel, and the Safety Car was called upon once again.

However, with so few laps remaining, the Safety Car was withdrawn at the end of the final lap to leave Boya unchallenged to cross the line for his first victory in the Championship ahead of Dunne, who becomes the first Irishman to score a podium in Formula 3.

They were joined on the rostrum by Goethe while Stenshorne finished in P4 ahead of van Hoepen and León, with Fornaroli in seventh ahead of Beganovic. Lindblad ended up ninth ahead of MP’s Tramnitz, who claimed the final point in P10.

KEY QUOTE - Mari Boya, Campos Racing

“Really happy about my first win in F3, I would like to thank the team, Campos did an amazing job after a difficult day yesterday, so super happy. So, lets focus on tomorrow because there are still many points available.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Despite not scoring Gabriele Minì retains his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship with 72 points, however Leonardo Fornaroli’s P7 lifts him up to second place and he is now just three points behind his fellow Italian.

Luke Browning was another not to add to his points tally after he finished in P12 and he drops to third on 68 points ahead of Dino Beganovic’s 61 points with Oliver Goethe 10 points behind now in fifth after his trip to the podium.

In the Teams’ Standings, PREMA Racing continue to lead the way out front with 179 points ahead of Trident’s124. Campos Racing are now in third place with 103 points after their double podium ahead of ART Grand Prix and Hitech Pulse-Eight.

UP NEXT

The Barcelona Feature Race is next up with ART Grand Prix driver Christian Mansell starting from Pole Position in the 100th FIA Formula 3 race. Join us then with lights out set for 10:05 local time.