Formula 3: Camara wins on debut

Rafael Camara’s Formula 3 season got off to a great start! The 19 year old Brazilian won on his debut, first past the flag in today’s first Feature Race of the season at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. After starting from pole, he managed the race in impeccable fashion in tricky heavy rain. “I’d never driven a Formula 3 car in these conditions and it was far from easy,” explained Rafael. “Securing pole on Friday was very important as starting from the front in these conditions proved to be quite important.”
 
Leading the championship. With the win, pole position and race fastest lap, Camara picked up 28 points, which sees him lead the series after the opening weekend. “A good start is good news,” commented Rafael. “Unfortunately, I was out of luck in Saturday’s Sprint Race, but I made up for it. The team did an incredible job and for my part, I tried to stay focused all the time. There’s a long season ahead of us, with a lot of work to do, but a win is definitely a great way to start the championship.”
 
Tuukka. Tuukka Taponen had a very difficult weekend. The 18 year old Finn struggled a lot with car set-up, finishing 14^th in the Sprint Race and 20^th in the Feature. “The pre-season test in Barcelona had gone well,” he explained. “So I was optimistic going into this event. Unfortunately, the car did not seem too well suited to the conditions of the Albert Park circuit and I paid a very high price for that in qualifying and could do no better than 23^rd. The situation improved in the two races and set-up changes solved some of the problems, but starting from the back meant it was still very difficult. It will be important to understand what didn’t work and the coming test in Bahrain will be an opportunity to sort it out before the next round.”
 
Feature race. This morning, heavy rain greeted everyone arriving in Albert Park, as had been expected. The race director decided the race should start behind the Safety Car, with a rolling start after three laps. Camara did a good job in the early stages and at the restart after the Safety Car. He then settled into a rhythm, pulling out a five second lead over the second placed driver, his team-mate, Noah Stromsted in just seven laps. The Safety Car reappeared on lap 13 after a crash for Christian Ho and the field bunched up. As the rain got heavier, the race was stopped two laps ahead of schedule, although full points were still given out as over 75% of the full distance was completed.