Written by Sean McKean
Image Credits - Prema Racing
On Sunday morning, Prema Racing’s Dino Beganovic took his first FIA F3 win in the Melbourne feature race. Not only is this the fourth maiden victor in a row, but it is also the Swedish driver’s first points finish of the season.
On the opening lap, incidents unfolded throughout the field early. In turn one, PHM’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak collided with MP’s Tim Tramnitz – spinning the Thai driver around. Though he was able to continue on, the same couldn’t be said for VAR’s Tommy Smith and Rodin’s Joseph Loake, who came into contact in turn 11.
The safety car didn’t come out until the end of the second lap, but away from the accidents, Sophia Floersch also went out of the race with an unspecified mechanical issue right as it came out.
Once the safety car came back in, pole sitter Leonardo Fornaroli led the way followed by the Prema duo Gabriele Minì and Dino Beganovic. In turn one on the restart on lap six, championship leader Luke Browning also made his way through to the fourth spot.
Collisions wouldn’t stop occurring either. On lap seven, sprint race winner Martinius Stenshorne came into contact with Noel León at the penultimate corner. This sent both of them down the order. But, specifically for León, he was victim of yet another collision on the next lap – this time by Santiago Ramos. Ramos swept across the wing of the VAR, resulting in a puncture for the Trident and a broken wing for the Mexican.
Everything stabilised up front until lap 12, where tyre management skills began to shine. Beganovic, who had managed well, passed by his Italian teammate to move into the second spot. While this happened, Joshua Dufek spun his PHM around in turn 10, but he was fortunately able to continue on.
While Browning also got by Minì, Beganovic caught and swiftly passed Leonardo Fornaroli on lap 14, taking the lead of the race. However, the Trident was still able to keep within DRS range.
Speaking of tyre management, two drivers who had managed well were Charlie Wurz and Sebastian Montoya – both having moved into the top six with only a few laps remaining.
Despite DRS being available for all of the top four, it wouldn’t stop the Prema of Minì from repassing the Hitech of Browning ahead of him.
For the first spot, DRS was not helpful either, as Beganovic gapped the Trident with two laps to go to cruise to his first win in the championship. Following him on the podium were Fornaroli and teammate Minì.
Luke Browning managed good points with a fourth place. Charlie Wurz secured a top five with a well-calculated drive. The Campos pair of Sebastian Montoya and Mari Boya quietly finished sixth and seventh. Bedrin secured good points for the PHM team in eighth followed by another Campos of Oliver Goethe in ninth. Taking the final point was ART’s Christian Mansell.
The new championships’ top fives are as follows:
Drivers’:
Luke Browning (Hitech) - 37 points
Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident) - 35 points
Gabriele Minì (Prema) - 32 points
Dino Beganovic (Prema) - 26 points
Arvid Lindblad (Prema) - 23 points
Teams’:
Prema Racing - 83 points
Trident - 58 points
Hitech Grand Prix - 47 points
ART Grand Prix - 45 points
Campos Racing - 39 points