FIA-F3

Martí and Mansell secure double podium for Campos Racing at Silverstone

The Spaniard finished in third place on Sunday with his Australian teammate also stepping onto the same place of the rostrum during Saturday’s sprint race. Barter scored his best result in the series by finishing in sixth place

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Campos Racing delivered another strong performance at Silverstone, which hosted the sixth round of the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship season, with their three drivers fighting up the front of the field. Pepe Martí and Christian Mansell added more podiums to the tally of the Spanish team. In the case of Martí, he further strengthened his second place in the standings with his third place on Sunday. Australian Mansell also finished third on the podium, which also made his appearance on it in the Formula 3-based series. Fellow countryman Hugh Barter, who had scored his first points in Spielberg, repeated on British soil and improved to 6th, his season’s high so far.

On Friday, Campos Racing already started on the right foot as Martí set the 5th-fastest lap time in morning’s free practice session with his 1m46.125s. Mansell also proved competitive pace with a lap of 1m46.370s and took 11th in the timesheets. Further adrift, Barter posted a lap of 1m46.653s enjoying his first outing at Silverstone. Later in qualifying, Mansell was the fastest man in Campos Racing colors at the beginning as he posted a lap of 1m46.440s to take 5th provisionally. But there was still more pace to deliver in the closing minutes of the session. At the end, Martí lowered to 1m45.874s and took 3rd spot for Sunday’s feature race. Mansell was set to start from row 2 with his lap of 1m45.909s. Barter put together a lap of 1m46.277s and qualified in 14th place on the grid.

Saturday’s sprint race got a delayed start as rain had begun to fall with the cars on the grid. With Mansell and Martí ninth and tenth on the grid, more points were within the sights. After two laps, Martí moved up to 8th with Mansell also running in the top-ten. Barter had gained two places as well. On lap 8, the safety car was deployed and several drivers, including Martí himself, made a pit stop for wet tires due to light rain worsening track conditions little by little. On the contrary, both Mansell and Barter remained on track on slick tires. On lap 12, the safety car headed into the pit lane with Mansell up to third behind Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto. Martí rapidly gained some places but, as rain suddenly stopped, the drivers on wet tires started to struggle. It was an amazing rush to the checkered flag with Mansell put in a brilliant recovery drive to keep Caio Collet at bay. After 18 laps, Mansell crossed the finish line in third place. Barter’s late charge rewarded him with sixth place. Martí still rescued the final point with tenth place after overtaking Paul Aron on the last lap. Besides, the Spaniard was the first driver classified among those who had pitted earlier.

On Sunday, Martí got a good reaction off the line to hold third place with Mansell losing a place to Bortoleto but keeping the car in one piece for the 22-car race. The safety was deployed on lap 2 and the feature race got green-flagged three laps later. The top-6 gradually pulled away from the rest of the field with Martí and Mansell provisionally running in third and fifth place respectively. Up the front, Martí set the fastest lap of the race with his 1m47.425s and secured another extra point. In the closing stages of the race, rain got heavier little by little, which also added additional spicy to the end. Besides, the safety car was deployed when Ruben Faria crashed into the barriers. With a mere 2-lap sprint, the safety car entered the pit. In such difficult changeable conditions on slick tires, Martí kept Aron under control and even putted Leonardo Fornaroli under pressure for second. At the checkered flag, Martí finished in third place. Mansell brought a fifth-place home. Barter finished in 15th

With three rounds to go, Martí sits second in the standings on 91 points. Campos Racing is currently fourth in the teams’ standings on 130 points.

The series now take a two-week break with the seventh event of the season taking place at the Hungaroring on 22-23 July.