Important victory for the MP Motorsport driver, with the decisive overtake on teammate Del Pino during the third lap.
Tim Tramnitz takes victory in the Formula 3 Sprint Race at Imola! The young German driver, member of the Red Bull Junior Team, climbs to the top step of the podium for the first time this season, thanks to an overtake on his teammate Bruno Del Pino during the third lap.
The Spanish driver managed to defend second place from Campos driver Nikola Tsolov, who had won the previous Sprint Race in Bahrain. Fourth was a surprising Louis Sharp, scoring his first points of the season, closely followed by his teammate Roman Bilinski. Completing the top ten were Stromsted, who also set the fastest lap, Taponen, Ugochukwu, Leon, and Giusti, while World Championship leader Rafael Camara finished only eleventh.
Nevertheless, the Brazilian Trident driver retains the lead in the Championship, although his advantage over Tim Tramnitz has been reduced to 16 points. Noah Stromsted holds on to third place, now with 33 points, 23 behind Camara.
F3 Sprint Race in Imola: the race report
18/18 – Tim Tramnitz holds onto the lead at the end of the main straight and heads towards victory. Meanwhile, Taponen also overtakes Ugochukwu to move up to seventh place. Nothing else changes until the finish line! Tim Tramnitz wins, earning 10 crucial points on World Championship leader Camara, who finishes only eleventh. Completing the podium are Del Pino and Tsolov, with Lacorte the best of the Italians in fifteenth place.
17/18 – Ugochukwu goes wide at Acque Minerali! Bilinski and Stromsted take advantage, moving up to fifth and sixth positions, while the young Prema driver slips back to seventh.
16/18 – Noah Stromsted’s Trident rises to seventh position with an outside overtake at Tamburello on Taponen’s ART. Behind them, the third MP Motorsport car driven by Alessandro Giusti climbs into the points zone, having overtaken both Rafael Camara’s Trident and Santiago Ramos’ Van Amersfoort within two laps.
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14/18 – Strong attack by Tuukka Taponen’s ART on the inside of Tosa against Noel Leon’s Prema. The Finnish Ferrari Driver Academy driver moves up to seventh position, while the Mexican driver goes wide and drops to ninth. Further back, contact between Van Hoepen’s ART and Lacorte’s DAMS causes the Dutch driver to lose a flap from his front wing.
12/18 – The race restarts! Tim Tramnitz continues well, while behind him Del Pino defends against Tsolov’s attack.
10/18 – Pit stop for Callum Voisin, who was running in the back. Fresh tires for the English Rodin driver, who attempts a desperate move to try and score some points.
9/18 – Green flag! The Formula 3 Sprint Race at Imola restarts like this! The two MP Motorsport drivers hold the first two positions, while behind them there’s a battle between the two Campos drivers, Boya and Tsolov: the Bulgarian driver comes out on top, while the Spanish driver drops to fifth position, also overtaken by Sharp. Boya’s Campos seems to have some technical problems, having fallen all the way to twelfth place, and retires to the pits at the end of the lap.
Meanwhile, Matias Zagazeta’s DAMS goes off track at the Tamburello chicane! Safety Car is deployed again!
8/18 – Safety Car still on track. Here’s the top 10: Tramnitz, Del Pino, Boya, Tsolov, Sharp, Ugochukwu, Leon, Bilinski, Taponen, and Stromsted. World Championship leader Camara is twelfth, while the highest-placed Italian is Badoer in fourteenth.
5/18 – Safety Car! Nicola Marinangeli’s AIX Racing car stops just after the Tosa corner, having lost its right rear wheel! Thus ends the home race for the Foligno driver.
3/18 – Super overtake by Tim Tramnitz on the outside of Tamburello! The German driver uses DRS to pass teammate Del Pino and move into first position. Meanwhile, behind them, a fierce battle between the two Prema drivers Ugochukwu and Leon: Sharp takes advantage, making a double overtake to climb into fifth place.
1/18 –Del Pino gets off to a great start, holding first position at Tamburello against Tramnitz’s attack. The top 12 remain unchanged, while Brando Badoer gains a position on Benavides to move up to fourteenth.
10:05 – The formation lap begins!
We are ready for today’s first event at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit in Imola. At 10:05 AM, the Formula 3 Sprint Race will start, returning to the track after the Bahrain round over a month ago.
Due to the usual reverse grid for the top 12, the front row will be entirely occupied by MP Motorsport, with Bruno Del Pino’s orange car ahead of Tim Tramnitz’s Red Bull livery. Tramnitz is second in the championship behind leader Rafael Camara, who secured his third pole position in as many races, meaning he will start twelfth today.
Behind them, the second row will be all Campos, with Mari Boya ahead of Nikola Tsolov, who won the Sprint Race in Bahrain. The third row will be all Prema, looking for redemption after a disappointing start to the season: Leon is fifth ahead of Ugochukwu, while Badoer will start from fifteenth, having failed to improve in his final qualifying attempt yesterday.
PHOTO: Official MP Motorsport, Tim Tramnitz, Prema Racing, DAMS Racing.
