Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy’s Brazilian student was on great form winning Race 1 at Paul Ricard. Taponen was in the points.
Maranello, 23 July 2024 –Two pole positions, one win and a seventh place for Rafael Camara in the sixth round of the European Formula Regional Championship, held at Paul Ricard. His win in the first race was his fifth of the season, as he leads the series on 210 points, 50 clear of second placed Tuukka Taponen. “That wasn’t a bad weekend,” commented Camara. The two qualifying sessions went really well and turned out to be our strong point. We managed Race 1 very well and the car was really good, thanks to a great job from the team. The second race was more complicated as we I don’t think we found a good balance for the wet track, struggling for traction all race long. We had hoped to do better but overall, we scored plenty of points which has allowed me to extend my championship lead by a little. Now we can recharge our batteries over the summer break, ready to go again in Imola in September on top form.” After two strong weekend at the Hungaroring and Mugello, the French round did not live up to expectations for Tuukka Taponen. In Race 1 the Finn had to settle for fifth place and in the second he was hit by another car in the early stages and his race ended in the run off area at the final corner. He is still second in the championship on 160 points.
Race-1. Camara was on pole, while Taponen started from the second row in fourth place. Rafael got away perfectly when the lights went out so that he was clear of the pack going into the first corner. Taponen had a very busy opening lap, duelling for a long time with Ivan Domingues. Tuukka was fifth at the end of the first lap and after that the positions didn’t change. Camara managed to take the chequered flag four seconds ahead of second placed Michael Belov. Taponen tried to pass Domingues on the final laps but the opportunity was never really there.
Race-2. Once again Camara was on pole with Taponen fourth on the grid. It was raining so all the drivers were on wet weather tyres and the race director opted on a rolling start after two laps behind the Safety Car. When it pulled into the pit lane, Camara pulled out a comfortable gap over his pursuers while Taponen was hit coming out of the final corner. The car was too badly damaged for him to continue and the Safety Car came out for another two laps. Once the race was on again, Camara dropped to second at the first corner, struggling for traction. In the last two laps Rafael tried his best but was clearly in difficulty, finishing in seventh place.