Formula Regional: pole and a win for Rafael Camara in Spielberg

The Ferrari Driver Academy student took his second win of the season in the first of two races in Austria. Maya Weug had a tough weekend.

After a long summer break, Formula Regional resumed at the Spielberg circuit and Rafael Camara was outstanding. The 18 year old Brazilian took a great win in Race 1 from pole position, leading from lights out to chequered flag. It was Camara’s second win of the season and sees him move up to fourth place in the standings on 122 points. The weekend might have been even better for Rafael, but he was the innocent victim of a collision on the opening lap of the second race, which meant he had to retire. Maya Weug’s results in Spielberg are not a fair reflection of her performance level. She paid the price of getting caught up in traffic in the two qualifying sessions and, given her grid positions, a top ten finish was never on the cards.

Race-1. Camara produced a great lap for a strategically important pole position in the first qualifying session. He made the most of it, leading right from the start and building up a lead of between two and three seconds in the opening laps, comfortably controlling things from then on. Weug started from 25^th place and fought hard for all 22 laps, eventually coming home in 19^th place.

Gara-2. After his win on the first day, Camara had to contend with very different conditions in the second qualifying session. The track was slower, which required a few laps to get used to, with Rafael posting the fifth fastest time in his group. It meant the Brazilian started the second race form tenth place, but he got off the line really well to move up to seventh. Unfortunately, a collision on the opening lap between turns 3 and 4 damaged the car to the extent that he had to pit and retire. Weug was also involved in a collision in the second race, which made it hard for her to move up the order – an unlucky end to the Spielberg round.