Camara flys through opening F3 Practice in Melbourne

Formula 3 returned to the track this morning for a crucial practice session at Albert Park, with the first tentative running of the new-look cars being topped by Rafael Camara.

Completing the initial out-lap under Virtual Safety Car pretences, the track soon went green to commence the bright and early 45-minute session. 

There were a few cobwebs to dust off for several drivers in Practice 1, with gravel traps around the entirety of the Albert Parks street circuit proving popular, with lockups at Turn 3 threatening a series of drivers’ run plans. 

As close to a home race as Louis Sharp can claim, the Kiwi set an opening benchmark time of 1:38.676s and only improved from there.

The Rodin Motorsport driver set countless fastest sectors as he periodically reached the height of the timing sheets, remaining in touch with the fastest contenders across the 45-minute run until misfortune struck the Kiwi.

Forced to pull over to the side of the road between Turns 2 and 3, Sharp brought out the first Red Flag of F3’s weekend, walking back to the pitlane and bringing the session to a premature ending.

As a result, Sharp ended the session in P16, 1.3 seconds off the fastest pace. 

As for our Australian Formula 3 representation, James Wharton followed ART Grand Prix’s quiet approach to the opening moments of the session, setting his first flying lap at his home circuit after a 15-minute warm-up.

Falling towards the back end of the field, Wharton sat over three seconds off the benchmark pace before returning to the pitlane at the halfway mark.

When the #9 returned to the circuit, an improvement from P29 wasn’t helped by a big slide through the first corner, however, that error soon became irrelevant after Sharp’s interruption.

On his first outing in front of home grandstands, Wharton ended the session 2.7 seconds behind the FP leader.

As for the rest of the field, the Hitech GP line-up were the early leaders, however, Sharp and his teammates threatened their hold.

After 20 minutes of running, the two-way tussle was interrupted by Rafael Camara who jumped into P1 with a time of 1:34.901s, with Campos Racing also finding pace in the 17°C conditions.

Just 9 milliseconds quicker, a 1:34.892s set by MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz soon became the time to beat as the drivers started to pick up the pace in the final 10 minutes, however, Camara didn’t go down without a fight.

One of the last drivers able to do so due to the late Red Flag, the Brazilian driver put his foot to the floor to reclaim his place as the fastest car in the opening session.

Sending a statement to the competition, his benchmark time of 1:34.652s was over tenths quicker than Tramnitz, with his closest Trident teammate, Noah Stromsted, notably half a second behind.

Returning to the pitlane, the field will reset in anticipation of this afternoon’s all-important Qualifying Session, with the light going green for the decisive battle at 2:00 PM.

Image: Formula 3

Auto Action Premium on sale wherever you buy your magazines

• NSW | Wednesday 12th March
• VIC, SA, TAS and WA | Friday 14th March
• QLD | Saturday 15th March

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION DIGITAL HERE

For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.