Formula 3: Marty wins the first race of the season

Spaniard José-Maria Martí won the first race of the 2023 Formula 3 season. Together with the Campos driver, Franco Colapinto and Chao Collet climbed the podium.

Pole holder Colapinto did not easily keep the lead at the start. Jose Maria Marti tried to attack Franco in the first corner but lost speed and Chao Collet took advantage and moved into second place.

Qualifying winner Gabriele Mini, who started 12th on the reverse grid rule, almost died at the start. By the time he managed to pull away, the entire pack was over.

On the second lap, yellow flags appeared and the safety car entered the track – Rafael Villagomez flew off the track after contact with Gabriel Bortoleto in turn five and crashed into a steel barrier at high speed. The pilot was uninjured and climbed out of the cockpit under his own power, Bortoleto continued the race in 15th place. The stewards decided to analyze the episode after the finish.

The race resumed on the seventh lap of nineteen. At the first corner restart, the first three kept their positions, but in the fourth Marty Collet attacked and regained the second lost position on the first lap.

In turn 10, there was contact between Bortoleto and Kaylen Frederick, leading to a puncture on the ART driver’s car. Frederik was able to pit and change tyres, but returned to the track in 27th place and closer to the finish he received a 5 second penalty for repeatedly crossing the boundaries of the track.

In addition to Frederick, Luke Browning also had problems with the restart. In the second corner the Hitech driver spun – he couldn’t continue the race, so the virtual safety car mode was engaged and the real safety car drove back onto the track.

In the few laps the safety car was on track, Nikola Tzolov and Alejandro Garcia received 10 second Stop&Gos for violating starting procedures by keeping their mechanics on the grid for too long while they continued to work on the cars.

The safety car left the track at the end of the eleventh lap. Colapinto remained in the lead after turn one, but José-Maria Martí attacked Franco on the straight before turn four to take the lead. However, Colapinto counterattacked and retook the first position.

Colapinto made an attempt to get away from the pack and even showed the best lap, but Marty didn’t let go of the MP Motorsport driver and on lap 14 he overtook the fourth corner. Once on an empty track, Marty immediately showed the best lap that no one could beat.

On lap fifteen, Paul Aron overtook Prema teammate Dino Beganovic for fourth. The Estonian rider was unable to maintain his position and missed Beganovich at the end of the race.

Jose-Maria Marti confidently took the race to victory, preventing Colapinto from counterattacking. In front of the podium, Fernando Alonso came to congratulate his compatriot – the management of the Aston Martin driver is engaged in the career of Marty.

Nikita Bedrin, speaking under an Italian license, won several positions back from the start in his first race in Formula 3 and finished seventeenth.