The Spanish driver secured his first win in the category this weekend, and what better way to do it than at his home round. A very solid Goethe finished third and fourth in the two Catalan races. Montoya was the man of the weekend in terms of overtakes
Campos Racing completed a stunning meeting at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the venue for the fifth round of the FIA Formula 3 season, which also marked the halfway point of the championship. On one hand, Mari Boya was crowned as the winner in Saturday's race. On the other, Oliver “Ollie” Goethe bagged another great haul of points for the standings thanks to his third place on Saturday and fourth on Sunday. As for Sebas Montoya, he was the great frustration, but not due to performance, as he was one of the highlights of both days thanks to his relentless comebacks on a track considered difficult for overtaking.
On Friday, during the morning free practice session, the drivers of Campos Racing had mixed feelings. Almost unbeatable for Goethe and Montoya, who with their respective best laps of 1m28.810s and 1m28.988s finished second and fifth on the practice timesheet. But, due to a technical problem with the brake pump, much less positive for Boya, as this incident caused him to go off track.
Thus, ahead of the afternoon qualifying session, it was about finding a clean lap without traffic and nailing the best possible sectors. This was not always possible. In Goethe's case, after improving his previous time with each set of tires, he finally set a lap of 1m28.570s, allowing him to start fifth in Sunday's race. Montoya and Boya, for their part, managed laps of 1m28.748s and 1m28.784s, respectively, which placed them tenth and eleventh. However, the stewards decided to cancel Montoya's time for track limits, condemning him to yet another heroic drive in the race.
In Saturday's 21-lap race, with rising temperatures as the minutes passed, Boya lined up third on the reversed grid, five places ahead of Goethe. When the lights went out, Boya stayed in the wake of Santiago Ramos and Sami Meguetounif, ahead of Alex Dunne. After the first lap, Goethe was already sixth, and Montoya had also gained at least six positions. On lap 3, when Meguetounif and Ramos collided at the end of the straight, Boya took advantage to take the lead. From there, his main concern was to control Dunne, who in turn had Goethe behind him, already running third. Boya's race management was impeccable, not punishing the tires and shutting the door as on lap 16, when Dunne used DRS to try to overtake the Campos Racing Spaniard at the end of the main straight. Just three laps from the end, and with an imperial Montoya already within reach of the points in twelfth, the Colombian was taken out of the race when Gabriele Mini lost control of his car under braking and crashed into him. The safety car came out, and despite the efforts of the marshals, the race ended under neutralized conditions, marking Boya's first win in the category. Goethe rounded off Campos Racing's dominance with his presence on the third step of the podium.
On Sunday, in a 25-lap race, Goethe lost three positions at the start, but the best news was that he kept his car intact at the end of the first lap, running eighth, two places ahead of Boya, who had to take to the escape road at the start. Goethe soon passed Martinius Stenshorne to be seventh, while the unstoppable Montoya had already overtaken seven rivals in just a few laps. On lap 4, Goethe also passed Laurens Van Hoepen with a clever move around the outside at the first chicane, moving up to sixth. Shortly after, the first drops of rain began to fall, adding excitement and tension to the race. In these difficult conditions, Goethe still had room for improvement, passing Nikola Tsolov and Luke Browning in the closing stages to finish fourth. Boya, who overtook Van Hoepen and Stenshorne on the penultimate lap, crossed the finish line in eighth. However, a subsequent five-second penalty for track limits dropped him to 14th, two places behind Montoya, who once again attracted much of the race's attention.
At the midpoint of the championship, Goethe occupies sixth place in the drivers' standings with 63 points, but with all his rivals within reach for the remaining rounds. Boya is ninth with 40 points. Montoya is in 17th place with 12 points. Finally, in the team standings, Campos Racing is now fourth with 115 points.
The Austrian Red Bull Ring will provide a new opportunity for Campos Racing drivers to shine with two more races next weekend.
Photos: © Dutch Photo Agency
