On a rain-soaked track, Beganovic converts pole position into victory. Gabriele Minì finished second, consolidating his lead. Leon completes the podium.
Dino Beganovic wins the Formula 3 Sprint Race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit! The Swedish driver, after a less-than-ideal start, regains the lead and maintains it until the checkered flag. In second place is Gabriele Minì, who chose to play it safe and settle for nine points. Leon completes the podium, his second consecutive second place after the one he secured in the Feature Race in Hungary.
Behind, there was a great battle during the final lap, with Tramnitz managing to defend very aggressively against Santiago Ramos’s comeback. Luke Browning finishes sixth, having passed Montoya just before the final chicane, while Leonardo Fornaroli settles for eighth place. However, he will have a great opportunity tomorrow, starting third in the Feature Race. Rounding out the points-scoring positions are Goethe and tomorrow’s poleman, Callum Voisin.
“In the overall standings, Gabriele Minì extends his lead, moving up to 128 points, 8 ahead of Luke Browning, who now has 120. Behind them, Fornaroli climbs to third place with 115 points, overtaking Lindblad who has 113, with 4 drivers covered by just 15 points and only 3 races remaining. Today’s race winner, Dino Beganovic, moves up to 100 points and takes fifth place from Mansell, making the championship still very wide open!
F3 Belgium Sprint Race: Race report
Taking advantage of the grid reversal for the top 12, Dino Beganovic will start from pole position, just as he did in the previous round in Hungary, where the Swedish driver, however, was unable to convert it into a win. Next to him on the grid will be Gabriele Minì from Prema, the leader of the championship, who has the chance to extend his lead. Luke Browning will start from fifth, and Leo Fornaroli, who starts from tenth, will have a great opportunity in tomorrow’s race. Meanwhile, it’s only 27th Lindblad. The race starts on a wet track, but all the drivers have opted for slick tires.
Gabriele Minì gets off to a great start, managing to pass a less-than-perfect Beganovic already at La Source. Meanwhile, Esterson loses control of his Jenzer car at the exit of Eau Rouge and spins across the entire track. The situation could have been very dangerous, but Montoya did a great job avoiding him despite the extremely slippery track. As a result, the first Safety Car of the race is deployed.
The first lap ends with Minì leading the group, followed by Beganovic and Tim Tramnitz, who has managed to overtake Santiago Ramos. Browning remains in fifth, while Fornaroli has climbed to ninth. Lindblad has already gained eleven positions and is now sixteenth, just ahead of the two ART cars of Van Hoepen and Mansell.
At the start of the fourth lap, the race resumes with Dino Beganovic managing to overtake Gabriele Minì from the outside at the end of the long Kemmel straight. Minì decides not to take excessive risks. Behind, an important overtaking move by Noel Leon pushes Luke Browning down to sixth place, while Goethe passes Fornaroli and Lindblad continues his recovery by overtaking Bedrin and Stenshorne.
Browning seems to be in difficulty, as he is overtaken by Montoya during the fifth lap and is pressured by an aggressive Meguetounif. Meanwhile, Fornaroli reclaims his position from Goethe. Meanwhile, from the Prema pit wall, they are asking Beganovic to give back the position to Gabriele Minì for having completely cut Eau Rouge before overtaking the Palermo driver. However, for now, the Swedish driver does not appear inclined to relinquish the lead.
Now it’s Meguetounif’s turn, as he overtakes Browning at Les Combes, risking contact, and leaves the Academy Williams driver vulnerable to Fornaroli. Meanwhile, Montoya sets the fastest lap, creating a gap in the group with the top 6 pulling away
During the ninth lap, a great overtaking move by Noel Leon on Santiago Ramos. A great mid-season performance by the Mexican driver from the Van Amersfoort team, who may have been sidelined a bit too early by the Red Bull Junior Team. Now Leon sets his sights on Tramnitz for the final podium spot. Meanwhile, Browning seems to have recovered and sets the fastest lap, earning an extra point which is very important.
In the following lap, Tramnitz tries to attack Gabriele Minì at Les Combes, but the driver from Palermo holds his ground. This allows the two Prema drivers to pull away, while now the German Red Bull Junior driver is outside the DRS zone and has to defend against Leon.
The final lap begins, with Beganovic in first place, holding a 9-tenths lead over Gabriele Minì. Behind, Leon takes the final podium spot from Tim Tramnitz and extends his advantage. The German driver is in trouble, with Ramos attempting an overtaking move at Blanchimont but failing. Beganovic wins, followed by Gabriele Minì and Noel Leon, who sets the fastest lap on the final lap. Tramnitz holds onto fourth place ahead of Ramos, while Browning finishes seventh and Fornaroli ninth. Lindblad fails to get back into the points and finishes in twelfth place. However, be aware that Meguetounif has accumulated a hefty 30-second penalty for track limits, dropping him down the standings.
Tune in at 8:25 tomorrow for the Feature Race!
PHOTO: FIA Formula 3.
