F3: Santiago Ramos wins the first race of the season
Santiago Ramos has won the first Formula 3 sprint of the season in Melbourne. Martinius Stenshorn and Roman Bilinsky joined him on the podium.
Saturday morning greeted the young riders with dry and sunny weather. At the start, pole holder Santiago Ramos retained the lead, although Mathias Zagazeta was close to leading the peloton in the first corner.
Martinius Stenshorn made a great start behind the pair of leaders, rising to second place by the end of the first lap. Zagazeta dropped back to fourth position, missing Roman Bilinsky in addition to Stenshorn. Louis Sharp and Joshua Dufek bumped into each other, and Dufek went to the pits to change the broken front wing. The stewards later fined Joshua with a 10-second penalty.
On the first lap, the race ended for Charlie Wurz, who stopped outside the track with a broken suspension. The virtual safety car mode was enabled to evacuate his car.
The race resumed on the third lap out of twenty, but already at the eleventh corner Rafael Camara, Laurence van Hoepen and James Wharton collided with each other. Kamara and van Hoepen were left in the gravel with broken cars, while Wharton, whose braking error led to the collision, managed to reach the pits with a broken suspension. A safety car pulled onto the track, and Wharton later received a 10-second penalty.
The restart was given on the ninth lap. The top five retained their positions, and in the fight for sixth place, Theophile Nahel actively attacked Nikita Bedrin, but the PHM AIX rider managed to stay ahead. In an attempt to catch up with the leader, Stenshorn performed the best lap, reducing the gap to three tenths of a second.
On lap twelve, Stenshorn attempted to attack the leader in turn three, but Ramos stayed ahead. Another attempt was made on the thirteenth lap at the eleventh corner, but once again the riders remained in their positions.
On the sixteenth lap, a safety car entered the track for the second time. The cause was a collision between Javier Sagrera and Bruno del Pino in the straight before Turn five, which sent both drivers crashing into the gravel.
The evacuation of the wrecked cars took longer than planned, so the peloton went for the safety car on the last lap, and the race finished in yellow flag mode.
Thus, Santiago Ramos won his first victory in Formula 3. Martinius Stenshorn, the winner of last year's Melbourne Sprint, finished second, and Roman Bilinsky, the series debutant, rounded out the top three. Nikita Bedrin finished sixth.
Pilot
The Time Team
Difference
Circles
1. S.Ramos
Van Amersfoort Racing
42'20.594
-
20
2. M.Stenshorn
Hitech TGR
42'21.002
0.408
20
3. R.Bilinsky
Rodin Motorsport
42'21.270
0.676
20
4. T.Intrafuvasak
Campos Racing
42'21.485
0.891
20
5. M.Zagazeta
DAMS Lucas Oil
42'21.632
1.038
20
6. N.Bedrin
AIX Racing
42'21.811
1.217
20
7. T.Nael
Van Amersfoort Racing
42'22.000
1.406
20
8. N.Tsolov
Campos Racing
42'22.332
1.738
20
9. K.Voisin
Rodin Motorsport
42'22.997
2.403
20
10. N.Leon
Prema Racing
42'23.538
2.944
20
11. U.Ugochukwu
Prema Racing
42'24.445
3.851
20
12.
M.de Campos Racing
42'25.034
4.440
20
13. T.Taponen
ART Grand Prix
42'25.181
4.587
20
14. K.Ho
DAMS Lucas Oil
42'26.491
5.897
20
15. J.Si
Hitech TGR
42'27.710
7.116
20
16. N. Lacorte
DAMS Lucas Oil
42'28.364
7.770
20
17. L.Sharpe
Rodin Motorsport
42'29.627
9.033
20
18. B.Badoer
Prema Racing
42'30.324
9.730
20
19. N. Marinangeli
AIX Racing
42'31.651
11.057
20
20. I. Dominguez
Van Amersfoort Racing
42'32.055
11.461
20
21. A.Giusti
MP Motorsport
42'33.850
13.256
20
22. D.Dufek
Hitech TGR
42'48.602
28.008
20
- N.Stromsted
Trident
29'41.265
Gathering
15
-. B.del Pino
MP Motorsport
29'49.441
Descent
of the 15th
.Sagrera
AIX Racing
29'49.518
Gathering
15
- T.Tramnitz
MP Motorsport
42'32.389
Not classified
13
- L.van Hoepen
ART Grand Prix
4'12.645
Descent
of the 2nd
Kamara River
Trident
4'13.243
Gathering
2
- D.Wharton
ART Grand Prix
4'23.697
Gathering
2
-. Ch.Wurz
Trident
-
Exit
0
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