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Inthraphuvasak confident Campos can fight at the top in upcoming European triple header
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak admits the opening two rounds have been up and down for Campos Racing, but he is confident that they can consistently challenge at the top as the calendar heads to Europe.
The Thai racer had a strong start to the campaign in Melbourne, qualifying seventh before finishing fourth in the Sprint Race and P7 in the Feature.
However, Sakhir was not as successful for Inthraphuvasak, as he left without scoring, but he says he and the team understand where things went wrong.
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“Two rounds in, there have been many ups and downs so far,” said Inthraphuvasak. “I started the season pretty good in Melbourne, with points finishes in both races and fighting for the podium in the Sprint, so it was a positive start to the season.
“The speed has been there throughout, also in Bahrain, but we didn't manage to execute it properly with the team. The races, the speed was super good, we were one of the fastest out there for both races.
“But there were just a few mistakes from my side and then not being in the right moment at the right time, and that kind of cost us some points in Bahrain.
“Both races, we moved up massively, but we had contact in Race 1 and in Race 2, dropping to the back at the start. But we made up so many positions because our race pace is super strong. So, for sure the speed has been looking good as a team, and I’m looking forward to this triple header a lot.”
Inthraphuvasak also echoed a similar sentiment for his teammates Mari Boya and Nikola Tsolov who have talked about Campos’ struggles in Qualifying.
All three drivers are confident that if their short run pace can be improved for the upcoming triple header in Imola, Monte Carlo and Barcelona, they can fight at the front.
“I mean with how qualifying is for the reverse grid races, the most important thing that sets up your weekend is whether you qualify in the top 12 or not,” explained the Campos driver.
“That basically sets up a good weekend or a bad weekend. It's probably the most important session of the weekend. You always have to get qualifying right, and for us it's been tricky so far.
“I think Melbourne was a bit different because it was messy and we had two or three Red Flags, so it wasn't a normal session, but Bahrain we had a pretty normal session.
“For us as a team we have been struggling to extract the pace from the car, especially on the third run, which is the most important run of the session, it’s the run that matters. It's been a bit difficult in Bahrain, which put me out of the top 12, but the race pace is super good.
“We need to analyse it as a team. We've had a break now, so we've had time to analyse and really understand how we can get the qualifying performance better. So, it will be our focus points in these upcoming three rounds, I think.”
From a personal point of view, Inthraphuvasak has already improved on his rookie campaign. His 13 points scored this year are already four more than his 2024 haul, and he believes the experience is serving him well this season.
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“I've definitely grown a lot from last year,” said Inthraphuvasak. “There were many things that I had to learn and adapt too as many things were new to me in the Championship.
“From the other Championships I've been doing in the past, Spanish F4 and Eurocup-3, we don't really go to too many European tracks. So, there were so many tracks that I had to learn last year, and it was my first time at many tracks on the calendar.
“This year I think I've got a lot more experience on that side of things, and also having done one year in F3 now, I have a lot of feedback I can give to the team to really help push them forward
“Also, I have really experienced teammates, and I think we all do a good job in helping the team grow and helping them develop the new car for this year.”
Looking forward to the upcoming triple header, Inthraphuvasak has already set out his goals for the next three rounds.
“I’m feeling super good at the moment,” he continued. “It's the start of the season now but in three weeks it will be midseason already, so it's intense these three coming weeks.
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“We've prepared, we've had a small break now to analyse the start of the season and really kind of look at what we have to focus on for the rest of the season.
“I'm feeling super motivated and happy with how the team's working and how we are preparing for these next few rounds.
“I feel super confident we can fight for the top, so the podium and constantly being up there in the top 10. So, I am really looking forward to going back to Imola and having three intense weeks of racing.”