Rafael Camara tightened his grip at the top of the Formula 3 field with a commanding win in this morning’s Bahrain Feature Race, converting his pole position into a second consecutive victory to begin the 2025 season. The TRIDENT driver had to battle for it in the early laps but ultimately asserted his dominance in a race characterized by intense fighting and strategic passing maneuvers.
The Brazilian lined up on pole for the second consecutive weekend, with Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin alongside him and teammate Charlie Wurz immediately behind in third. Christian Ho completed the second row for DAMS Lucas Oil, with 22 laps of Sakhir asphalt waiting.
Early drama in the desert
It was Voisin who got the jump, having a solid start and pulling alongside Camara into Turn 1 to grab the top spot. The Briton appeared to be getting away up the road, but Camara and Wurz soon reeled him back in by Lap 2. Taponen, in the meantime, was making early moves, claiming fourth from Ho at Turn 4 with a confident dive.
Lap 3 saw the first of many lead changes. Camara used DRS to retake P1 into Turn 1, but Voisin was not done — responding with a clever switchback through Turn 4 to take the position back. On the same lap, there was contact at Turn 1 that wreaked havoc on Slater, who retired, and Zag, who was pitted but released without penalty. A Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was belatedly deployed, though both cars were already in the pit lane.
Back-and-Forth at the Front
No sooner had racing resumed on Lap 4 than Camara applied pressure immediately. An attempt at Turn 1 on Lap 5 this time held, with Voisin unable to respond at Turn 4. That set the Brazilian on a consistent run at the front, as he slowly began to pull away.
In the meantime, at the rear, the fight for the midfield was hotting up. Wurz was ordered to attack Voisin for second but was instead pushed onto the defensive. Taponen delivered on his early promise, snatching third from Wurz at Turn 1 on Lap 7. A lap later, Tramnitz capitalized on a Ho error to rise to sixth, with Tsolov following him into seventh soon afterward, showing good pace through Sector 1.
Midfield Mayhem and a Birthday Push
While Camara extended his lead — pushing it out to 3.7 seconds by Lap 15 — the fight behind raged on unabated. Tramnitz was the midfield hero, stealing fifth from Stromsted on Lap 12 and then dispatching Taponen for third on Lap 19, securing a well-deserved podium spot.
However, the drive of the day was undoubtedly Mari Boya’s. From a humble 20th on the grid on his birthday, the Spaniard sliced through the field in ruthless fashion. He was already 11th by Lap 11 following a neat move on Badoer, and by Lap 20 had forced his way into the top 10, passing Bruno del Pino for the final points-paying place.
Lap 21 saw more action as Stromsted blew past Wurz for sixth. Giusti followed that with a fine outside pass at Turn 4 for seventh, and Wurz’s tires appeared to be gone. He lost more places as Ho and the charging Boya also passed before the final lap.
Final-Lap Fireworks
There was time for one last twist. Wurz would not give up and temporarily fought back past Boya. But Ho and Boya both took advantage of his wide exit out of Turn 2 to force the Austrian back down to 11th in the dying exchanges.
Camara took an uncontested victory upfront by a 6.2-second margin to Voisin, who was a comfortable second. Tramnitz took third after a strategic, measured drive, with Taponen and Tsolov completing the top five. Stromsted, Giusti, and Boya — eighth from 20th — comprised the good points scorers, with del Pino taking ninth from Ho by just 0.072 seconds.
With two wins from two Feature Races, Camara and TRIDENT have laid down a serious marker. As the paddock now looks ahead to Round 3 at Imola on 16–18 May, the question is straightforward: can anyone stop the flying Brazilian?