Joseph Pepe Marti took sprint F2 win in Austria in a chaotic race, as James Wharton took the victory in F3.
F2:
Duerksen got the better launch from the front row to take the lead immediately. He was followed by Stanek, Martí and Amaury Cordeel, who each jumped pole-sitter John Bennett in the opening exchanges at Turn 1. Up to Turn 3 and Martí dived down the inside of Stanek, taking second position on the run to Turn 4. Behind them, title rivals Richard Verschoor and Alexander Dunne fought for P6.
The Dutch driver narrowly came out in front through Turns 4 and 5, allowing Leonardo Fornaroli to take advantage of the Rodin Motorsport rookie’s lost momentum, before demoting the Irishman to P8. Onto Lap 2 and the Red Flag was waving after a multi-car collision at Turn 3 between Luke Browning, Arvid Lindblad and Sami Meguetounif that left the TRIDENT car upside down.
All three were OK and out of their cars, which needed to be cleared away with the race neutralised. The race was resumed with a rolling restart, and Duerksen got a good launch to establish a buffer over Martí and Stanek in second and third. Through Turns 6, 7 and 8, Gabriele Minì rounded Dunne for eighth position just before a Safety Car was deployed with Dino Beganovic stationary at Turn 3 following contact with Oliver Goethe.
Dunne was then awarded a five-second time penalty during the Safety Car period after he was judged to have jumped the original start of the race. Duerksen got racing back underway once again with a good restart ahead of Turn 9, leaving Martí to defend second place from Stanek. Onto Lap 9 and Dunne lost two more spots to Sebastián Montoya and Victor Martins at Turns 3 and 4, demoting him to P11.
Montoya was on the attack again on the following lap, taking advantage of Martins going deep at Turn 3 to take ninth on the run to the fourth corner. A fastest lap for Martí on Lap 11 brought him back into DRS range of the race leader, as he sat 0.8s behind P1. Lap 15 and Dunne muscled his way back through on Martins for P10 at Turn 3.
With DRS on Lap 17, Martí forced Duerksen to defend into Turn 3 and with a better run down to Turn 4, took the lead of the Sprint around the outside of the AIX driver. But the Paraguayan immediately hit back with a dive down the inside of Turn 6 to retake P1. Lap 18 and Martí seized a chance at Turn 3, diving down the inside to move back ahead of his rival for the race lead.
After a few laps in his wake, Verschoor completed a crucial pass on Bennett on Lap 24 to take fifth position at Turn 4, despite running deep on corner exit. Into the final three laps and Minì then pulled off a brave move on the Van Amersfoort Racing driver at Turn 7 to move up to sixth. Onto the penultimate lap and Stanek went wheel-to-wheel with Duerksen at Turn 4 but couldn’t make a move stick.
Duerksen defended from the Czech at Turn 3 on the final lap, but just behind them, Cordeel suffered a spin, and he was collected by Minì, Fornaroli and Bennett. Martí was a comfortable winner by just under three seconds as Duerksen held off Stanek in second and third. Verschoor was promoted up to P4 following Cordeel’s spin, with Montoya, Dunne, Martins and Ritomo Miyata completing the points down to eighth position.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1938953381114192151
F3:
It was a strong getaway from pole for Wharton, but it was the same for his fellow front row starter Giusti, although the ART rookie kept his rival at bay on the opening lap. Behind them, Charlie Wurz was struggling to keep hold of P3 from Ugochukwu. But the PREMA rookie ended up losing a place at Turn 7 to his teammate Brando Badoer, dropping him to fifth.
As Lap 2 ended there was a multi-car collision in the midfield between Christian Ho, Louis Sharp and Tuukka Taponen at Turn 4, ending all three drivers’ race. Ho brought his DAMS Lucas Oil machinery back to the pitlane, but Sharp and Taponen’s cars needed to be cleared from the track, bringing out the Safety Car.
Action resumed at the start of Lap 5 of 21, and Nikola Tsolov was on the move, diving to the inside of Callum Voisin at Turn 1 to take P7, as Wharton kept the lead ahead of Giusti. At the start of Lap 6, Badoer ran wide at Turn 1, allowing Ugochukwu to take P4. Rafael Câmara looked to have overtaken the PREMA rookie, but the Italian fought back at Turn 3 to keep fifth.
In the battle for ninth, Bruno del Pino and Brad Benavides collided at Turn 3, with both drivers forced to pit with damage, before coming back out, although the latter later retired. Lap 9 and Câmara looked to go round the outside of Badoer at Turn 4. However, a bad run on corner exit allowed Championship rival Tsolov to get past for P6 at the exit of Turn 6.
The two drivers continued to battle on the next lap, but as they went side-by-side through Turn 4 once again, Câmara dipped a wheel in the gravel, dropping him down to P9. Lap 12 of 21 kicked off with Giusti half a second behind Wharton, and the MP driver looked to make a move to the inside at the popular Turn 4 but again found no way through.
The battle for the podium places continued on the next lap as Badoer looked to dive to the inside of Ugochukwu at Turn 3. However, the PREMA driver braked too late and went into the rear of Wurz in P3, sending both into a spin. The Safety Car was deployed moments later with Wurz’s TRIDENT on the side of the road, while Badoer came into the pitlane to change his front wing before coming back out.
Racing resumed on Lap 18 of 21, and Wharton had another good restart, as did Giusti. But Ugochukwu, now in third, was coming under pressure from Tsolov and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak. However, the Campos pair started to battle, allowing Ugochukwu to keep the position. As Wharton crossed the line to start Lap 20, the Australian rookie had built a lead of 1.1s to Giusti, while Ugochukwu was 2.2s behind the race leader, while fighting to keep Tsolov behind.
Onto the final lap and Giusti has closed to within DRS range of Wharton, but could not get ahead of the ART driver, who crossed the line to take his first win in FIA Formula 3. Giusti achieved his second consecutive podium finish in second, while it was a maiden trip to the rostrum for Ugochukwu, who held off the challenge from Tsolov to finish in P3.
All three Campos drivers made it into the points, with Inthraphuvasak and Boya in fifth and sixth respectively, while Tramnitz fought through the field to finish in seventh place, having started in P17. Martinius Stenshorne finished eighth for Hitech TGR, with Voisin in eighth as Câmara rounded out the points in P10.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1938881131559989751
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the FIA Formula 3 Sprint Race in Spielberg, Ugo Ugochukwu and Christian Ho have been handed post-race penalties while James Headley has been disqualified. Firstly, Ugochukwu has received a post-race time penalty for breaching Article 27.3 of the FIA Formula 3 Sporting Regulations. The PREMA Racing driver was summoned to the Stewards following the race after allegedly leaving the track and gaining an advantage over Car 12 of Nikola Tsolov at Turn 1.
The Stewards heard from both drivers and their team representatives following the Sprint, and video evidence was analysed. It was determined that Tsolov had his front axle alongside the mirrors of Car 3 prior to the apex at Turn 1, earning himself rights to the corner in accordance with the Formula 3 Driving Standards Guidelines. Ugochukwu was left with sufficient room on corner exit, but left the circuit, retaining the position ahead of Car 12 and gaining a lasting advantage in the process.
As a result, Ugochukwu has been handed a 10-second time penalty. With the application of the time penalty, he falls from P3 to 16th in the results. It promotes Tsolov up to third position. Secondly, AIX Racing’s James Hedley has been disqualified from the Sprint Race. The driver of Car 26 arrived in parc fermé and exited the car, failing to reattach the steering wheel. Headley then entered parc ferme once more in an attempt to refit the steering wheel, breaching Article 45.1 of the FIA Formula 3 Sporting Regulations, which states that: “Only those officials charged with supervision may enter the parc fermé. No intervention of any kind is allowed there unless authorised by such officials”.
After hearing from the team representative and driver, the Stewards acknowledged that the driver had only attempted to refit the steering wheel, but had violated parc fermé in the process. As a result, Car 26 has been disqualified from the results, and all cars that finished behind are moved up one position in the final classification. Finally, DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho has been awarded a grid penalty. The Singaporean driver made contact with Car 8 at Turn 3 during the Sprint Race. He was subsequently handed a 10-second time penalty, however, with Ho not classified in the Sprint results, his penalty has been converted into a five-place grid drop. Ho will serve the penalty at the next race in which he competes.
[The story is as per press release]