Formula 3 Goes Racing Round the Temple of Speed
As the Formula 3 Championship drew to a close, with just two rounds remaining, there was everything to play for heading into Monza. It was a weekend to forget and remember for both championship fighters, with some surprising performances coming from the back of the field.
With the two championship contenders so close heading into the final two rounds, the racing at the Temple of Speed was always going to be intense. While the heat was felt on and off track, some dramatic moves and surprises on the track meant the title fight heated up further. With some crazy overtakes, new winners, and some drivers from the back of the field making moves, the Temple of Speed races did not disappoint.
Sprint Race
Going from reverse grid pole, the two Rodin Motorsports drivers, Pedro Clerot and Brando Badoer, worked together to keep Tuukka Taponen in third in the opening corners, with Alessandro Giusti coming to fourth. After a rough lap two, Badoer lost the lead to his teammate after a lock-up, with Clerot taking the lead. With the field strong, it soon became a five-car fight for the lead.
Contact soon followed as Fernando Barrichello, Badoer and Taponen collided towards Turn 1, with the latter two ending up in the pit lane for front-wing damage and dropping to the back of the field. Barrichello stopped on track with suspension damage, which brought out the safety car. Guisti took the lead with Clerot, Ernesto Rivera and Taito Kato behind, and continued to lead as the racing resumed.
Kato also had a good restart, as he went past Rivera for third, while Mattia Colnaghi went past Hiyu Yamakoshi for fifth; but quickly locked up and dropped to eighth. Freddie Slater was also climbing up the field, going into eighth. Another safety car was called out, this time a virtual one, as Maciej Gladysz stopped on track.
Clerot had a good restart, taking the lead, while Giusti lost second as Kato overtook him in the race to Parabolica. However, this was short-lived as he overtook him on the main straight as Clerot stopped on track with an issue.
Another safety car brought the field closer again. Gerrard Xie and Woohyun Shin made contact at Turn 1, but both drivers were OK. Giusti continued to lead as Rivera ran wide after a battle with Kato for third. Slater then went to fourth, but as Giusti started to struggle, places were changed. Giusti dropped to fourth after being passed by Kato and Yamakoshi. Slater then gained a position to third and continued up the field to overtake Yamakoshi.
The position was then reversed, as Kato was told to keep pushing on the penultimate lap. Slater and Giusti went past Yamakoshi, but Giusti dropped down to fourth after another overtake. It was Kato who crossed the line first, though, with Slater in second and Yamakoshi rounding out the podium. The top ten was finished by Yevan David, who jumped up the field to fourth, Giusti in fifth, Colnaghi in sixth, Rivera in seventh, Enzo Deligny in eighth, Nicola Lacorte in ninth and Bruno del Pino in tenth.
Feature Race
Championship leader, Freddie Slater, took the field off the line in the feature race, while Kanato Le and Nicola Lacorte completed the top three. Ernesto Rivera overtook Taito Kato with Alessandro Giusti behind. The other championship fighter, Ugo Ugochukwu, was spun at Turn 1 by Théophile Nael, which dropped him to the back of the field. Nael was later given a ten-second penalty for the incident.
Le was closing on Slater but was saved by the safety car as Fionn McLaughlin collided with Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi at the opening corner. Slater continued to lead as racing resumed. Kato took fourth from Lacorte, while Pedro Clerot overtook Taponen for seventh. Le then used DRS to take the lead from Slater, while Kato also overtook Rivera for third. Lacorte followed him past Rivera.
Slater continued to lose places, as Kato and Lacorte went past him. Rivera hit Lacorte at the Ascari chicane, forcing Rivera to pit with a damaged wing and dropping him down the order. Lacorte was still able to move forward, though, overtaking Kato for second before soon taking the lead from Le. Le then dropped down to third as Kato made a move for second.
Taponen battled through the field as he overtook both Le and Kato to get into second. Slater continued to drop down the order with a radio message telling him to retire the car as he had an issue. This came true when his rear right tyre came off and led him to stop on track. In a separate issue, Rivera also stopped on track, bringing out a safety car.
As the championship leader was dropping down the field before retiring, Ugo Ugochukwu was drawing closer to the points. At the restart, he was up to eleventh, overtaking Enzo Deligny for tenth, although by the end of the race this was eighth.
Lacorte continued to lead at the front with Taponen in second, and Kato in third. Yevan David continued to charge again up to fifth. Another yellow flag was out with Fernando Barrichello stopped on track, as Taponen could not reach Lacorte out front. David got up to fourth, with an overtake on Le, in a late charging move.
Ultimately it was Lacorte who won his first race in Formula 3 in front of his home crowd and the thirteenth different winner of the season to set a record. Taponen and Kato filled out the podium, with David in fourth. Le, Yamakoshi, Noah Stomsted, Ugochukwu, Deligny and James Wharton completed the top ten.
Championship Standings
After both races, Freddie Slater still leads the championship, but with Ugochukwu’s points in the feature race, the gap is just 15 points going into the three races in Madrid. Ernesto Rivera goes to third, with Théophile Nael a point behind in fourth. Following a good Monza weekend, Taito Kato jumps to fifth and is equal on points with Brando Badoer in sixth.
In the Teams Standings, going into the final round on home territory, Campos continued to lead with Trident in second place. The rest of the top five is Van Amersfoort Racing in third and ART Grand Prix in fourth, level on points going into the Madrid. MP Motorsport goes to fifth, jumping Rodin Motorsport, after its first podium this season with Taponen.
As we enter the final round at the Madring, with three races – one sprint and two features, our championship leaders still have it all to play for in the title race. With testing littered with red flags and plenty of interruptions, will our leaders make it through clean? Will it be Slater or Ugochukwu for the title? The Madring will be one not to miss.
Article Written by Amy Powis
