Boya: ‘Pace is coming naturally’ as he aims for maiden F3 pole position at Spa

Mari Boya is targeting a maiden Formula 3 pole position and started the Spa-Francorchamps weekend in fine form in his bid to do so.

The Campos Racing driver was fighting for the top spot from start to finish in the rescheduled Practice session, ending up on top with a 2:06.111.

Speaking afterwards, Boya expressed how positive the start had been for himself and the team, with teammates Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Nikola Tsolov both inside the top 10 also.

Ahead of Qualifying, he’s anticipating another strong session for the Spanish outfit, but they will be looking to make the correct adjustments to keep up with the track evolution into the evening.

“A bit later than expected but Free Practice was really positive. Now we have to focus on Qualifying. We will switch to the Medium compound which will be a bit different compared to the Hard.

“But I feel in good shape, everything is happening really naturally in the car for me and it’s a really good feeling as a driver. So, I have to thank the team for the car they are giving me, now let’s try to make the correct steps for Qualifying because the temperature and tyres will be different.

With the start of Practice moved into the afternoon due to early morning fog and condensed from 45 minutes to just 30, the team had to adapt their initial run plan.

Despite the last-minute changes, he says they did well to execute on that plan, and were able to build a strong baseline ahead of the all-important Qualifying session later on.

“Yeah, the plan was a bit different. And for sure, in terms of the approach, how we approach the car is different. It's not the same 30 degrees track temperature compared to the 15 or 20 that maybe was this morning.

READ MORE: PRACTICE: Boya sets the pace at Spa-Francorchamps for Campos Racing

“So maybe this is a bit more of a job for the engineers, but as a driver, we try to maximise and have the best things that have possible for them. With the session later than originally scheduled, and the tyre compounds getting a step softer from the Hards used in Free Practice, Boya is ready to adapt his driving once again to fit the conditions.

The Aston Martin Development Driver says that he is feeling at the top of his game with his strong run of results of late launching him up the Championship Standings.

With that in mind, he’s eager to capitalise and achieve a maiden F3 pole. “We have to adapt and make the correct steps to take better care of the tyre, and it will be crucial to do so. But, everything is feeling really natural, and I feel really confident because of it.

“For sure pole is on the table, I won’t lie and say I’m not aiming for that, but hopefully the luck goes my way later on.”