Invicta’s Rafael Camara took Pole position, after a chaotic Qualifying session in Spa-Francorchamps.
A Dramatic Start
Following a dry Free Practice session, the weather took a turn as rain began drizzling ahead session.
With conditions rapidly evolving, the majority of the field still committed to slick tyres for their opening runs. Mari Boya and Noel León, however, chose to remain in the pit lane as the rest of the grid headed out onto the dampening Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
The field spent the opening minutes of the session bringing their tyres up to temperature before launching into their first flying laps. Alex Dunne was the first driver to start a representative effort, but the red flags quickly interrupted the session.
The stoppage was due to an incident with León, after the Campos driver lost control at the exit of Eau Rouge. The Mexican spun, before successfully recovering and continuing on his way. Although the incident did not leave his car stranded, it was enough to interrupt the session. The FIA subsequently placed the Mexican under investigation, with the matter scheduled to be reviewed after Qualifying.
Starts, Stops and Stellar Laps
With just 24 minutes on the clock, the green flags were waved.
Dunne moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1:57.124, putting two tenths between himself and Nikola Tsolov. Moments later, Câmara completed his first representative lap with the Brazilian going third with a 1:57.571.
At the end of the opening runs, Dunne led the field ahead of Tsolov and Câmara, with Oliver Goethe and Laurens van Hoepen rounding out the top five.
As several drivers returned to the pit lane to regroup, both Invicta Racing drivers stayed out for another push on the same set of tyres. Câmara found more pace on his second flying lap. His 1:57.347 was enough to move into second, demoting Tsolov to third while Dunne remained at the top of the order.
Fight in the Final Seconds
At around the 4 minute mark. Trident’s Van Hoepen was left stranded at the start-finish straight, with yellow flags soon turning into red flags.
As the final minutes came together, all eyes were on Tsolov to see if he could secure his maiden Formula 2 Pole position. The Red Bull Junior briefly climbed to the top of the timesheets with a 1:56.699, but his stay at the summit was short-lived.
Câmara turned heads, producing a stunning 1:56.306 to reclaim P1. Behind him, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak put together an impressive lap, whilst Dunne ultimately settled for third.
Results
Câmara was the man of the session with his impressive Pole, followed by Inthraphuvasak and Dunne on the top 3 for Sunday’s Feature Race.
Nikola Tsolov missed out on his maiden pole, settling for fourth. John Bennett came in fifth, ahead of Dino Beganovic, Joshua Duerksen and Roman Bilinski. Martinius Stenshorne finished ninth, with León rounding out the top 10, with a provisional Sprint Pole position.
Formula 2 returns tomorrow for the Sprint Race at 14:15 local time.
Featured Image Credits: Formula 2 on X