Mari Boya claimed his first Formula 3 victory in Barcelona after two of his Trident rivals crashed into each other while fighting over the lead.
The Campos driver inherited the lead of the race after Santiago Ramos and Sami Meguetounif collided at turn one.
Boya then held off Alex Dunne to take the chequered flag under Safety Car triggered when championship leader Gabriele Mini crashed out of the race in the latter stages.
Ramos led the early laps from partial-reverse-grid pole with team mate Meguetounif running behind him in second. At the start of lap three, Meguetounif used DRS to get a run on his race leading team mate, who moved to defend.
Meguetounif ran over the grass and inside kerb and collided with the leader. His race ended there while Ramos limped to the pits with a right-rear puncture.
The Safety Car was deployed, with Boya inheriting the lead from the Tridents. When the race resumed, he led from Dunne, Oliver Goethe, Laurens van Hoepen and McLaren junior Martinius Stenshorne.
Boya briefly came under pressure for the lead from McLaren junior Dunne, but was able to resist him to keep his position when Dunne got a run on him down the pit straight. Behind, Stenshorne took fourth place from Van Hoepen, but the top three positions remained static.
In the closing laps, Sebastian Montoya, who was demoted out of the top 10 in qualifying when his best lap time was deleted, began to challenge Gabriele Mini for 11th place. The pair made slight contact out of turn four, damaging Mini’s Prema which sent him sliding into Montoya into turn five and putting both out.
The Safety Car was deployed for a second time and the race never resumed before the chequered flag. Boya therefore claimed his first win at his home round, with Dunne in second but one of several drivers set to be investigated after the race for a potential false start. Goethe claimed the final podium position in third.
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Stenshorne finished fourth ahead of Van Hoepen, Noel Leon, Leonardo Fornaroli and Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic. Red Bull prospect Arvid Lindblad took ninth, with Tim Tramnitz completing the top ten.
Mini, Montoya and Meguetounif were joined in retirement by Callum Voisin and Nikita Bedrin, who collided under yellow flags at turn one immediately following the clash between the Trident drivers at turn one on lap three. Despite failing to finish, Mini retains his championship lead with Fornaroli now second ahead of…
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