Oliver Goethe takes first Formula 3 victory

Oliver Goethe’s first career win ended Sunday’s Formula 3 race at Silverstone. Together with him, Leonardo Fornaroli and José Maria Marti climbed the podium.

On Sunday morning, Great Britain greeted Formula 3 drivers with cloudy but dry weather. Poleholder Leonardo Fornaroli took full advantage of his position and kept the lead at the start. José Maria Marti beat Oliver Goethe for second place. Paul Aron got off to a good start as Prema moved up to fourth ahead of Christian Mansell and Gabriel Bortoleto.

Luke Browning and Hugh Barter touched coming out of the last corner of the first lap – Barter kept moving and Browning was left on the start line with broken suspension.

In the back of turn sixteen, Johnny Edgar and Chao Collet collided. Both made it to the pits, Collet returned to the track after changing tires and Edgar ended the fight with a broken suspension. A safety car took to the track so marshals could evacuate Browning’s car.

The restart was given on the seventh lap of twenty-two. The leaders held their positions, but at turn seven, Kylen Frederick, who was defending his 15th-place finish, pushed Zach O’Sullivan off the track. The Prema driver spun in the gravel but was able to return to the track and head to the pits for new tyres. After a pit stop on an empty track and new tires, Zach set the best lap of the race.

On lap 11, Gabriele Mini overtook Franco Colapinto for seventh. On the fifteenth lap, Dino Beganovich, who started last, moved up to 15th position, but the Swedish rider’s progress stopped at this point.

On the same fifteenth lap, Oliver Goethe, who had previously overtaken Marty, attacked Fornaroli’s partner at turn 6 and took the race lead. Behind Max, Esterson returned to the pits and retired due to technical problems with the car.

On lap eighteen, Roberto Fario crashed the car into turn seven after making contact with Mackenzie Cresswell and the safety car came out on track for a second time.

At the same time, the rain started to fall, getting heavier with each lap, and the riders faced a difficult dilemma: stay on slicks or go for rain tyres. With three laps to go, Tommy Smith decided to pit to get rain tires, but the rest continued to follow the safety car.

The safety car left the track two laps before the finish. At the restart, the riders in the top ten maintained their position, although Colapinto actively put pressure on Mini in the battle for seventh place. Tommy Smith climbed from 26th to 18th in one lap, but the remaining last lap was not enough to break into the top ten – he finished eleventh.

Oliver Goethe remained in the lead and took his first victory in Formula 3. Leonardo Fornaroli finished second and took the podium for the third time this season.

Competing in the top three Trident riders was Jose Maria Marti, who closed the gap in the individual standings from Gabriel Bortoleto, who finished sixth. Three stages before the end of the season they are 36 points apart.

Nikita Bedrin earned no points and finished eighteenth. The next Formula 3 round will take place in Hungary at the Hungaroring on July 21-23.

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