Franco Colapinto’s victory ended Saturday’s Formula 3 race in Melbourne. Zach O’Sullivan and Sebastian Montoya climbed the podium with him.
Pole holder Montoya held the lead well into the first corner, while second starter Oliver Goethe crashed into turn three and got stuck in the gravel. The safety car immediately left the track so marshals could evacuate the Trident racer’s car. Luke Browning moved up to second and Franco Colapinto to third. The stewards later decided that Browning was “helping” Goethe and imposed a ten-second penalty on the Hitech driver.
The restart was given in the third round of twenty. The peloton stretched out at the start line and in the top ten, which was closed by championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto, the riders held their position.
On lap five, Luke Browning attempted to attack Montoya, but bounced onto the pavement in turn nine, losing speed and falling back to fifth. At the same time there was contact between Paul Aran and Chao Collet for fifth, causing Chao to go off track and roll back.
On lap six, Colapinto overtook Montoya for the lead, and behind the pack Ido Cohen crashed his car into the wall before the fast chicane of turns nine and ten. The safety car came out on track for the second time.
The race resumed on the eleventh lap. The pilots again stretched out on the starting line and in the top ten everyone kept their position. On lap thirteen, the safety car appeared on the track for the third time after Tommy Smith crashed the car exiting the final corner. Van Amersfoort Racing driver on three wheels reached the first corner, where he stopped.
With four laps to go the safety car left the track. Franco Colapinto immediately broke away from the peloton and showed the best lap, in the top ten everyone kept their place again. On the eighteenth lap Zach O’Sullivan attacked Sebastian Montoya – the riders touched the wheels and Zach moved into second.
On the penultimate lap, the safety car returned to the track for the fourth time. This time the cause was Alejandro Garcia, who made a mistake battling rivals, flew into the gravel and crashed the car.
Bernd Maylander left the track at the end of the last lap – the race ended under yellow flags. Franco Colapinto took his first win of the season and his third in Formula 3.
Second place finisher Zach O’Sullivan allowed the Prema rider to open the points tally of the season. Sebastian Montoya took the podium for the first time in his career.
Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto finished seventh. Nikita Bedrin moved up two positions from the start and finished eighteenth.
Results are being prepared
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
