FEATURE RACE: Ramos patience pays off with Imola victory

Santiago Ramos was in fine form on Sunday morning, winning the Imola Feature Race after coming out on top of a race long battle with the TRIDENT of Rafael Câmara.

The Van Amersfoort Racing driver made the decisive move three laps to the end of the race to achieve his first Formula 3 Feature Race win and his second victory of the season. Câmara wound up in third behind his late-charging teammate Noah Stromsted in P2.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was a great start from Ramos, who got ahead of Câmara on the run down to Turn 2, while Stromsted dropped to fifth after starting in P3, with Tuukka Taponen and Louis Sharp getting ahead.

Câmara was told over the radio to stay with Ramos and on Lap 4, the Brazilian retook the lead from the Van Amersfoort Racing driver.

TRIDENT was keen to make up for the start as Stromsted recovered one of the places he lost thanks to a nice move round the outside of Sharp on Lap 6 at Turn 2.

Onto Lap 8 and Ramos had managed to stay within DRS range of Câmara. The pair were over two seconds clear of Taponen, who was coming under pressure from Stromsted.

The Dane got back to where he started after overtaking the ART Grand Prix driver into Turn 2. Just behind, Roman Bilinski overtook his Rodin Motorsport teammate Louis Sharp for fifth at the same corner.

Further behind, MP Motorsport were making moves as Tim Tramnitz overtook Noel León for ninth at Piratella, while Alessandro Giusti dived to the inside of Nikola Tsolov at the penultimate corner.

A Virtual Safety Car was signalled on Lap 12 of 22 with Ivan Domingues having stopped on track at Turn 4.

Racing resumed on Lap 13 and Ramos was right on the back of Câmara, while Mari Boya overtook Ugo Ugochukwu for P7.

Boya was flying and moved past the Rodins on Lap 14 and 15, first Sharp and then Bilinski, both at Turn 2, putting him up to P5.

Sharp was beginning to fall through the field and lost out to Tramnitz and Giusti, and by Lap 18 of 22 was in ninth.

Ramos was closer than ever to Câmara now at the start of Lap 19, and his race long pressure finally paid off, going to the outside of the TRIDENT driver at the ever-popular Turn 2.

Câmara was in big trouble now as he struggled on his tyres and after running wide at Acque Minerali, Stromsted was through to second.

It was a team effort for MP on the penultimate lap as both Tramnitz and Giusti went round the outside of Bilinski at Turn 2, promoting them to P6 and P7 respectively.

On to the final lap and Stromsted had closed to within DRS range of Ramos, but the VAR driver held on to claim his first Formula 3 Feature Race victory.

Câmara crossed the line in third, ahead of Taponen and Boya, with Tramnitz and Giusti in sixth and seventh. Bilinski held off Tsolov for P8, as Laurens van Hoepen took the final point for ART Grand Prix.

KEY QUOTE – Santiago Ramos, Van Amersfoort Racing

“We have finished the Feature Race here in Imola, quite happy with the result, it’s what we were looking for. We were close last year, we had an issue and couldn’t make it. SO, I am rally happy with the team, happy with how I managed the race, it was good to wait for Rafa to enter a bit of degradation and then start attacking. So, I think the strategy was the right one. So, quite happy with the team, because we had some problems in Free Practice and Qualifying also, so happy to finish the weekend like this and carry this momentum to Monaco.”

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Rafael Câmara continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship on 73 points, while his TRIDENT teammate Noah Stromsted jumps up to second on 52. Tim Tramnitz is now third for MP Motorsport on 48 points, while ART Grand Prix driver Tuukka Taponen sits fourth on 36. Santiago Ramos’ victory catapults him to fifth on 35 points.

In the Teams’ Standings, TRIDENT continue to lead the way on 135 points, with MP Motorsport in second place on 76. Campos Racing are third on 60, while Van Amersfoort Racing and Rodin Motorsport are fourth and fifth respectively, but tied on 54 points.

UP NEXT

The drivers have a few days of rest before hitting the track for the second round of the triple header in Monte Carlo. Who will master the streets of Monaco from May 22-25.