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What We Learned: Some of our key takeaways from Round 5 in Barcelona
Round 5 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is in the books and what a few days of racing it was, as Rafael Câmara and TRIDENT won the Feature Race from pole once again.
We also saw a historic one-two finish in the Sprint for Van Amersfoort Racing, while several teams and drivers also impressed across the weekend.
RACE ANALYSIS: Why the Barcelona weekend might have been Câmara’s best
There are plenty of storylines to pick from after such an entertaining event, but here are a just a few takeaways from our trip to Spain…
Câmara's BACK ON TOP
Câmara and TRIDENT started the season on fire, achieving three consecutive pole positions at the opening rounds, and two Feature Race victories.
However, the opening two race weekends of the triple header had not gone the Brazilian’s way, as he had finished third in the Imola Feature – after leading for the majority of the race – and scored just four points across both races in Monte Carlo.
So, coming to the Spanish venue, Câmara would have wanted to bounce back by returning to winning ways, given that his Championship lead had been cut to 13.
The rookie hit back in the perfect way on Friday, storming to Pole Position ahead of title rival Nikola Tsolov by 0.216s.
Not everything went Câmara’s way though, as an opening lap crash in the Sprint Race knocked him out of the event, but he returned on Sunday to win for the third time.
READ MORE: Voisin reflects on ‘pretty disappointing’ Barcelona weekend for Rodin
With Tsolov in fifth and Tim Tramnitz seventh, Câmara extended his advantage at the top over his closest challengers and rounds out the first half of the season on 105 points, leading by 26.
VAN AMERSFOORT THE COMPLETE PACKAGE
The Dutch outfit had made a fine start to the season in Melbourne, with Santiago Ramos winning the Sprint, while Théophile Nael finished third in the Feature Race.
Since then, there form has been a bit hit and miss, with two point-less rounds in Bahrain and Monte Carlo, and Ramos’ victory on the Sunday of Imola sandwiched in-between.
VAR had proven that they had the pace, but they had not consistently put everything together. However, for the first time this season, all three of their cars did, especially on Friday.
Nael and Ramos were fourth and fifth respectively in Qualifying, while Ivan Domingues achieved his best result of the pole position shootout in seventh.
But they were not done yet, as Domingues used a three-car incident at the opening corner of Lap 1 to take the lead of the race, before crossing the line to win, ahead of Ramos in second.
That fine form continued on Sunday, and while Ramos retired early following a first lap incident, Nael was in the battle for the lead for much of the 25-lap race, before finishing second.
Domingues ended up in P6, and with that, VAR are now fourth in the Teams’ Standings on 106 points. That is already the most points they have scored in an F3 season, and they will be very confident of adding more to their tally over the next five rounds.
THE ROOKIES ARE THRIVING
As previously mentioned, the end of the Barcelona Feature Race marked the halfway point of the campaign, and so far, we have six rookies in the top 10 of the Drivers’ Championship.
Since 2020, that is equal to the most newcomers in the top 10 of the Standings alongside the 2023 season – when another Brazilian rookie (Gabriel Bortoleto) also led the Championship.
Câmara, his TRIDENT teammate Noah Stromsted, Tuukka Taponen, Alessandro Giusti, Nael and Roman Bilinski have all played starring roles this season and have each achieved at least one podium finish so far this year.
READ MORE: Round 5 Post Feature Race thoughts from the Top 3
Outside of the top 10, Domingues in 14th and Bruno del Pino in 18th have also had their moments this season, the former winning the Barcelona Sprint, while the latter finished second at the same race in Imola.
With five rounds under their belts, an improved understanding of what it takes to be successful in Formula 3, and having now returned to tracks most of them will know quite well, look for the rookies to continue to thrive.