Rafael Câmara claimed victory at the Feature race of Round 8 of the Formula 2 Championship at Spa-Francorchamps. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Nikola Tsolov completed the podium in Belgium after an interrupted race turned into a timed race. Alexander Dunne, with a penalty dropped from second to fourth.
Off to a messy start
The Formula 2 Feature race started with a lot of action. Going into turn 1, several drivers locked up, and Gabriele Mini, after making up several positions, made contact with Roman Bilinski’s DAMS Lucas Oil car. Dino Beganovic, Bilinski’s teammate, wasn’t able to leave the starting line. All this action triggered the first yellow flag of the race.
At the front, Rafael Câmara had a clean start, as did Tanasapol Inthraphuvasak. By the time the Safety Car was deployed, Inthraphuvasal became the new leader, and Oliver Goethe had to retire after stopping before Eau Rouge. Minì was able to drive into the pitlanes to repair the damage, as well as Beganovic, who retired.
After a good restart from Inthraphuvasak, Câmara had to defend against the current championship leader, Tsolov. However, as the Bulgarian tried to make a move, he went wide and lost two positions to Alexander Dunne and Joshua Dürksen. Meanwhile, Mini received a penalty for the incident on lap 1.
On lap 5, Câmara retook the lead of the Feature race, as his teammate Dürksen approached Inthraphuvasak and took second place. Meanwhile, Tsolov dropped down the order, sitting barely in tenth place. On Lap 7, those who started on Supersoft tyres, such as Câmara, Tsolov, Dunne, Inthraphuvasak, and Mini, started pitting.
A flagged and penalised second stint
On Lap 9, the Formula 2 Feature race got interrupted once again after Laurens van Hoepen crashed into the barriers. The red flag was deployed, and drivers went into the pitlane as the track was being cleaned.
The Feature race got restarted as a timed session with 21 minutes remaining. Dürksen led the pack; however, he still had to make his mandatory stop, as did the current top 7. Câmara, down in ninth, tried a move on Noel Léon for eighth. As several drivers got together in a fight for the last point positions, Emerson Fittipaldi Jr spun out and triggered the third yellow flag.
Under the safety car, those who didn’t complete their mandatory pit stop had to pit. As a result, Rafael Câmara became the new leader ahead of Dunne and León. Inthraphuvasak was fourth, and Tsolov was fifth. As the race got restarted, Tsolov immediately tried a move on Inthraphuvasak and claimed fourth place.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, penalties for track limits became a new issue. León, who was running in third, was under investigation for track limits, and a 5-second penalty was applied after the race, dropping him out of the top 5. Colton Herta also got a 5-second penalty for track limits. Dunne in second also got a 5-second penalty for track limits.
Ultimately, Rafael Câmara crossed the line first, ahead of Dunne and Inthraphuvasak. However, with Dunne’s penalty, the Alpine junior got demoted, and Tsolov completed the podium in third.
