Mexican talent Rafa Villagómez took his first points in FIA F3 last weekend at Imola. Rafa had a promising start to his first FIA F3 season in VAR livery in Bahrain, and has shown great progress in the two official season tests in Jerez and Barcelona.
Rafa returned to Imola after finishing on the podium in Euroformula Open last year with Van Amersfoort Racing. However, the young Mexican had to take on an entirely new challenge this year in one of the most competitive junior single-seater series in the world.
The Italian circuit challenged the grid of 29 drivers with its unpredictable weather conditions. But it didn’t stop Rafa from setting the sixth fastest time in Friday’s very wet practice session.
After a difficult red flag-ridden qualifying session, Rafa took P20 on the grid for Saturday’s sprint race. The 20-year-old Mexican got off to a great start, moving up three positions by the end of the first lap. Keeping his head down, he continued his attack in spectacular fashion, staying out of the chaos in the midfield and handling all three safety car restarts perfectly.
Demonstrating his strong race pace, Villagómez made his way to P9 and improved eleven positions to score his first points in FIA F3.
Rafa Villagomez:
“Last year I was pretty close to the points, but never there. This season I joined VAR and we had a promising start in Bahrain. And it wasn’t until my second race weekend with the team that I finally got it. It feels great. What a great reward for our hard work and the result of the countless hours in the sim and hundreds of rounds of testing. It shows that we are on the right track. Can’t wait to reach even higher in Barcelona!”
The next round of the FIA F3 Championship will take place from May 20-22 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.