Masson won Saturday’s race 1 ahead of teammate Braschi and the Frenchman continues to command the drivers’ standings. Inthraphuvasak finished fourth on Sunday
Campos Racing extended their winning streak in the 2023 Eurocup-3 season, whose sixth round took place at Estoril this weekend. Esteban Masson and Francesco Braschi added more wins and podiums to their tally on Portuguese soil. Thai Tasanapol Inthrapuhuvasak also performed pretty well as he put himself in contention podium. Morocco’s Suleiman Zanfari brought a positive haul of points home in the rookies’ classification.
From the very beginning, Campos Racing and their drivers ran in competitive lap times. But the Q1 was the first real exam on Saturday morning. There, Masson stormed to pole position in his Campos Racing-run Tatuus with a lap time of 1m34.869s. Italian Braschi secured an all-Campos Racing front row as he posted a lap time of 1m35.217s. Inthrapuhuvasak qualified in sixth place putting together a lap of 1m35.547s. Zanfari set the 5th-fastest lap among the rookies with a time of 1m36.660s.
In the afternoon, race 1 proved to be a fertile ground for Campos Racing. When the lights went out, Masson and Braschi controlled the field up the front and gradually they pulled away from the rest. After 8 laps, Masson had built a gap of 2,5 seconds on Braschi, who was running more than four seconds ahead of the 3rd-classified. Masson stretched further the gap and after 20 laps the Frenchman driver took the checkered flag in first place, with Braschi finishing in second place six seconds behind. Inthrapuhuvasak rounded out the top-ten with Zanfari right behind but fourth among the rookie-rated drivers.
On Sunday, Campos Racing repeated as the dominating force in Q2. Inthrapuhuvasak set the pace this time beating Masson to pole position by 248 thousandths of a second with a lap of 1m34.563s. Braschi scored a lap of 1m35.286s and set to start from 10th. Zanfari clocked a lap time of 1m35.733s, which was 4th-fastest in the rookies’ class.
When the lights went out, Masson moved into the lead by overtaking polesitter Inthrapuhuvasak. Masson repeated the same strategy as the previous day and pulled away. Inthrapuhuvasak dropped to third but remained in contention for a podium finish. Unfortunately, a safety car in the second part of the race ruined Masson’s lead. Due to a safety car procedure infringement, the driver of Campos Racing was given a drive through penalty and dropped down the order. After 18 laps, Inthrapuhuvasak crossed the finish line in 4th place. Braschi’s recovery drive rewarded him with 7th-place. Zanfari finished in 12th place and 5th in class.
With just two rounds remaining, Masson still sits first on 179 points. Braschi is fourth on 138 points and Inthrapuhuvasak occupies seventh place at the moment. Zanfari rounds out the top-ten and additionally is second in the rookie standings. Campos Racing is second in the teams’ standings on 375 points.
The seventh round of the season will be the home round of Campos Racing at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in two weeks’ time.
