Following F2 Qualifying in Barcelona, Invicta Racing will occupy the front row in Sunday’s Feature Race, with Rafael Câmara claiming Pole with a 1:24.810.
Finding Grips and Lap Times
As most of the grid set out on their first warm-up laps, Herta lead early for Hitech.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Nico Varrone opened the session with a 1:42.489. However, the initial laps offered little indication of the true pecking order as drivers worked their tyres into the optimum operating window. Varrone soon improved dramatically to a 1:26.025, climbing to the top of the timesheets.
Herta then took control of the session, with an onslaught of improvements following from Ritomo Miyata, Dürksen, Alex Dunne, Martinius Stenshorne, Gabriele Minì, Oliver Goethe and Rafael Villagómez.
Race Control deleted one of Dunne’s lap times for exceeding track limits, dropping the Rodin Motorsport driver to 11th, behind AIX Racing’s Cian Shields, who also received a track limits infringement. After 10 minutes, Herta headed the field with a 1:25.387, narrowly ahead of Dürksen on 1:25.441.
Calm Winnings for Câmara
As the session neared its halfway mark, Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov vaulted to the top of the timesheets with a 1:25.222, putting himself on provisional pole ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Kush Maini.
Câmara shattered the benchmark, recovering from an earlier 1:41.724 to produce a blistering 1:24.810. Dominating all three sectors, the Brazilian stormed to the top and established a commanding four-tenth advantage over Tsolov.
With three minutes remaining, Miyata suffered a spin at the final corner, colliding into the barriers.
The Hitech driver bought out the Red Flag as the car was retrieved, and his lap time was deleted.
When the session resumed with just 3:41 remaining, several drivers headed out for one final attempt at improving their positions.
Despite the late opportunity, none could get close to Câmara’s benchmark, allowing the Invicta Racing driver to secure his second consecutive Pole position. The Brazilian finished ahead of teammate Joshua Dürksen, sealing a dominant front-row lockout for the team.
Formula 2 returns for the Sprint Race at 14:15 local time
Featured Image Credits: Formula 2 on X