Rafa had a promising start to his first FIA F3 season in VAR colours in Bahrain, and has showed great progress in the two official in-season tests in Jerez and Barcelona.
Rafa returned to Imola after finishing on the podium last year in Euroformula Open with Van Amersfoort Racing. However, the young Mexican had to face a whole new challenge this year in one of the most competitive junior single-seater series in the world.
The Italian race track put the grid of 29 drivers to the challenge with its unpredictable weather conditions. But, it didn’t stop Rafa from posting the sixth-fastest time in Friday’s very wet practice session.
Following a tricky, red flag-ridden Qualifying session, Rafa took P20 on the grid for Saturday`s Sprint race. The 20-year-old Mexican made a stellar start, climbing three positions by the end of the first lap. He kept his head down and continued his charge in a spectacular manner, staying out of the chaos in the midfield and handling all three safety car restarts perfectly.
Demonstrating his strong race pace, Villagómez carved his way all the way up into P9, improving eleven positions to score his maiden points in FIA F3.
Rafa Villagómez:
“Last year I was quite close to the points but never there. For this season, I joined VAR and we had a promising start in Bahrain. And in only my second race weekend with the team I finally got it. It feels amazing. Such a great reward for our hard work and the result of the countless hours in the sim and hundreds of testing laps. It shows that we are heading in the right direction Can’t wait to reach even higher in Barcelona!“
The next round of the FIA F3 championship will take place on May 20-22 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.