Camara Wins Interrupted Spa Feature Race as Minì Salvages Fifth

Rafael Camara turned his fourth pole position of the Formula 2 season into a Feature Race victory at Spa-Francorchamps, staying clear of multiple disruptions in a race red-flagged for a heavy crash involving Laurens van Hoepen. The Invicta driver lost his initial lead into the opening corner but recovered the position before the mandatory pit stops, navigating three safety car periods and a prolonged stoppage to seal the win.

Off the grid, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak reacted quickest to snatch the lead into Turn 1, while behind them the field immediately fractured. Dino Beganovic stalled on his grid slot after moving early, narrowly avoided by trailing cars, before contact between Gabriele Minì and Roman Bilinski triggered a five-second penalty for the Italian driver. With Oliver Goethe coming to a halt before Eau Rouge, officials deployed the opening safety car of the morning.

Championship leader Nikola Tsolov launched an aggressive restart attack on Camara, but the resulting contact sent the Bulgarian skidding down the order to tenth. Camara regrouped quickly, closing down Inthraphuvasak to reclaim the lead on track prior to the pit sequence on lap six, with Joshua Dürksen briefly following through into second position.

The race came to a full halt on lap nine when Van Hoepen suffered a high-speed impact against the barriers. The Trident chassis sustained severe damage and caught fire briefly, though the Dutch driver climbed out unhurt. Work to repair the damaged safety barriers prompted a red flag and a lengthier delay before racing resumed with a timed restart.

A second restart behind the safety car, leaving 22 minutes on the clock, brought further disruption when Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. spun out, neutralization holding the field in check once more. Behind Camara, Noel Leon and Alexander Dunne worked their way forward, though both drivers were subsequently hit with five-second time penalties for track limit infringements during the closing ten minutes.

Those late sanctions reshuffled the virtual order once again. Inthraphuvasak inherited second place, 5.458 seconds behind Camara, while Tsolov recovered to third ahead of Dunne. Minì completed his damage limitation drive from 14th on the grid, overcoming his opening-lap collision penalty and benefiting from team strategy during the red flag period to take fifth.

The result keeps Tsolov at the top of the standings heading into the ninth round of the fourteen-race season at the Hungaroring. For Camara, a disciplined performance amidst constant interruptions confirmed his qualifying pace, converting 39 milliseconds of Saturday advantage over Inthraphuvasak into a maximum-points finish.

Back to all Formula 2 news