After the great return to Monte Carlo, Formula 3 also took to the track in Barcelona, a classic stop on the calendar. In the sprint race it was O’Sullivan who prevailed with the Prema from the inverted grid, in a victory that was never really questioned despite Luke Browning’s attempts.
Pepe Martì dominated in the Feature Race, who had already conquered the pole position in qualifying in front of his home crowd, then repeating himself in the race. A great success, even in the case of him having reached the end of a linear race, without great episodes.
The Spaniard thus earns second place in the standings behind Gabriel Bortoleto, who thus remains at the top of the standings with a 24-point lead. Weekend to forget for Gabriele Minì, who after the splendid success in the streets of the Principality was unable to repeat himself in Barcelona, ending the weekend with a double zero.
Second place Luke Browning, Hitech Pulse-Eight, race winner Zak O’Sullivan, Prema Racing at Parc Ferme
Photo by: Williams
Sprint Race: second victory for O’Sullivan
After winning in Australia, in the Catalan sprint race Zak O’Sullivan took his second Formula victory of the season, holding off a fierce challenge with Luke Browning amid two periods behind the Safety Car.
After starting from pole, O’Sullivan was able to maintain the first position, however he had to keep his guard up following the entry of the Safety Car due to the accident of Ido Cohen, who went out into the barriers in turn nine after being came into contact with Rafael Villagomez.
Despite further attempts by Browning and another Safety Car during the sixteenth lap due to an accident involving Gabriele Minì in turn 1, O’Sullivan was able to build up a lead of 1.6s over his rookie rival and Academy mate, taking his first win since Melbourne.
Browning finished second, taking his first F3 podium, while Leonardo Fornaroli finished third for Trident, taking his second podium finish in as many weekends. Fornaroli had in fact managed to steal third place from Gregoire Saucy (ART) in turn two, when the Frenchman had gone wide.
Luke Browning, Hitech Pulse-Eight
Photo by: Williams
Further back, Gabriele Mini (Hitech), who started from eighteenth position, was the author of a good comeback at the start, especially at the braking point in turn one and on the outside of turn two, reaching up to thirteenth place. The Italian was the author of some good manoeuvres, which took him up to eleventh position with just over six laps to go.
On lap fourteen, Saucy was overtaken by Prema driver Paul Aron in fourth position on the starting straight, after running wide; the mistake then allowed Sebastian Montoya (Hitech) and championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto (Trident) to pass, dropping Saucy to seventh position.
The following lap Montoya and Aron made contact in turn one, with the young Red Bull Academy rider running wide into the gravel and suffering a puncture, while Aron moved up to fourth. Bortoleto was good at taking advantage of it, passing both before turn 7.
On the same lap, Prema rookie Dino Beganovic then arrived at Turn 10 after suffering a puncture, before Mansell, the Campos and Minì rider, made contact at Turn 2 on lap sixteen. Mansell had the worst of it as he was forced to retire in the gravel, while Mini was handed a 10 second time penalty.
Zak O’Sullivan, PREMA Racing
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
These incidents led to a second Safety Car, which however didn’t affect O’Sullivan’s leadership, who even after the restart managed to build a good lead, taking the lead under the checkered flag. Midway through the pack, Mini managed to pass Saucy for eighth on the last lap, but was then demoted to 21st due to his penalty, jeopardizing his hopes of taking the championship lead.
Feature Race: solo by Martì from pole
After taking pole position in qualifying, Pepe Marti then dominated the Formula 3 Feature Race in Barcelona, taking his third victory of the season, in front of his home crowd.
The Campos Racing driver was in the lead right from the start and, despite Taylor Barnard having tried to undermine him in turn 1 (also coming wide, an aspect that forced him to cut on the escape route), he didn’t have any major problems in turning the pole position in a victory.
The Safety Car intervened on the third lap after Luke Browning, protagonist of a good podium in the Sprint Race, had stopped on the track, but Marti also managed to stay in the lead on the restart during the sixth lap, starting to open the gap on the riders behind you.
Josep Maria Marti, Campos Racing
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
In fact, Martí tried to detach Barnard, with the latter unable to maintain the pace, leaving the DRS area during the tenth lap and slipping in the standings. In fact, Franco Colapinto was able to pass driver Jenzer for second place on lap eleven with the help of the DRS, while Dino Beganovic repeated the move on the following lap, thus placing himself in the last valid position by one step of the podium for Prema.
On lap seventeen, Bortoleto also managed to maneuver over Barnard, although the latter tried to react on the outside of turn 3 and turn 4. However, this opened the door for other riders, including Aron, who he took advantage with a nice overtaking on the outside of turn 5.
Barnard himself then ran wide out of the final corner on lap seventeen, giving Mari Boya and Sebastián Montoya the opportunity to leap forward. While the MP Motorsport driver was able to pass, Barnard was able to hold on, maintaining seventh position.
Josep Maria Marti, Campos Racing on the podium
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Martì’s victory marks the second success in as many weekends, this time in his and his team’s home event, and was welcomed on the podium by compatriot Fernando Alonso, of which the Spaniard is part for A14 Management. “Just won my first Feature Race here at home so I’m very happy. Obviously we had a great race, I had to manage Taylor at the start and then after the restart under the Safety Car I had to manage him again for a while. From that moment on, I had to manage my pace, trying to keep the tires in good condition before the end.”
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