SPRINT RACE: Inthraphuvasak earns maiden F3 win at Silverstone

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak became the first driver from Thailand to win an FIA Formula 3 race as he controlled the Silverstone Sprint from reverse grid pole.

The Campos Racing driver briefly lost the lead midway through the race, but once he regained the lead, nobody could catch him.

Martinius Stenshorne came through from P6 to claim second on the podium for Hitech TGR ahead of Mari Boya in third.

AS IT HAPPENED

Inthraphuvasak covered off fellow front row starter Christian Ho into Turn 1. But the DAMS Lucas Oil driver lost out to Van Amersfoort Racing’s Théophile Nael, who moved up to second after going around the outside of Ho at Brooklands.

TRIDENT teammates Charlie Wurz and Rafael Câmara went side-by-side for P10 through Maggotts and Becketts all the way down to Club corner, with the Austrian just about fending off his teammate.

Nikola Tsolov had a difficult opening lap also, dropping down to 29th having had contact with PREMA Racing’s Brando Badoer at Turn 4. The Italian got stuck in the gravel, bringing out a Safety Car on Lap 2.

Racing got back underway entering Lap 5, and Inthraphuvasak fended off Nael but behind them, Stenshorne dived to the inside of Ho at Turn 4 to take third position.

Câmara got his move on Wurz at Brooklands finished off into Luffield to take P10.

Nael took the lead on Lap 6 down the inside at Turn 4, but ran outside of track limits in the process of getting the move completed.

Further back, Boya moved up to sixth with a DRS pass into Stowe on Noel Léon on Lap 7.

Laurens van Hoepen improved to fourth as he set up a switchback out of Stowe on the following lap to open the door to a pass on Ho into Vale.

At halfway, Nael led Inthraphuvasak by 0.5s, and the Thai driver had Stenshorne for close company just another 0.7s back in third. Following their earlier battle, Nael returned the place to the Campos driver on Lap 10, able to slot in just ahead of the Hitech behind.

Ugo Ugochukwu was able to dispatch Tim Tramnitz as the MP Motorsport driver began to slip back from his P8 starting position, and on Lap 11 Câmara dived down the inside into Turn 4 as well. The move caused the German to run wide, opening the door for Wurz to also come through for P10.

Ugochukwu’s charge continued on Lap 13 as he rounded teammate Léon at Stowe with a brave pass for seventh.

Just ahead of them and into Turn 4, Boya passed Ho for fifth place to put two Campos’ in the top five.

Lap 14 and Nael was beginning to fall back from Inthraphuvasak, and a big snap of oversteer through Copse allowed Stenshorne to close in. With DRS into Stowe, the Hitech driver moved up to second.

Ugochukwu was up to sixth on Lap 16, as he cleared Ho into Brooklands with a dive down the inside of the DAMS driver.

In the podium battle, Laurens van Hoepen got to within DRS of Nael and the pair battled from Stowe into Vale, and on exit the pair ran to the edge of the track. It opened the door to a charging Boya, and the Campos driver cut back down the inside of both at the final corner for P3.

Entering the final lap, Stenshorne had cut the gap down to 1.2s, but there was no catching Inthraphuvasak, who claimed his first victory in FIA Formula 3 ahead of the Norwegian.

Boya’s pass entering the penultimate lap gave him third and put two Campos cars on the podium, while Nael and van Hoepen’s battle from the previous lap earned the Frenchman a 10-second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track. It dropped him out of the points and gave fourth to the ART Grand Prix driver.

Behind them, Ugochukwu wound up fifth having started from 11th ahead of Ho and teammate Léon. TRIDENT teammates Câmara and Wurz followed in eighth and ninth places, while Rodin Motorsport’s Roman Bilinski completed the points in 10th.

KEY QUOTE – Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, Campos Racing

“P1, super happy and I want to thank everyone and the team for giving me a very good car today. Fully focused on tomorrow now and I think we have the pace to fight for some good points as well.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Rafael Câmara moves onto 120 points in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, ahead of Tim Tramnitz in second on 93 and Nikola Tsolov on 89. Martinius Stenshorne is fourth on 76, 10 ahead of Mari Boya in fifth.

Over in the Teams’ Standings, TRIDENT is at the top on 207 points ahead of Campos Racing who go up to 188 points in second. MP Motorsport is third on 158, with Van Amersfoort Racing fourth and level on points with ART Grand Prix.

UP NEXT

The FIA Formula 3 Feature Race gets underway at 09:30 local time, with Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov going from pole position.