F3: Noel Leon wins the Imola sprint

Saturday’s Formula 3 sprint in Imola ended with a victory for Noel Leon. For the Vam Amersfoort team driver, this victory was not only the first in his career; the Mexican driver achieved his first points in Formula 3. Together with him, Oliver Goethe and Tim Tramnitz climbed to the podium.

After Friday’s qualifying, Alex Dunne was disqualified because his car did not meet the technical regulations. This moved MP Motorsport’s Kasper Stuka to twelfth place and started from pole position on Saturday, while Noel Leon took second position on the grid.

The Stuka got away well at the start, but Leon started the race even better and took the lead in the first corner. During the first lap, Stuka lost three more positions, passing Tim Tramnitz and Oliver Goethe, but remained ahead of championship leader Luke Browning.

Marie Boy didn’t have the best start – Tommy Smith sent him spinning in turn six. Boya got stuck in the gravel and got out, after which the safety car drove onto the track. Smith received a 10-second time penalty.

The restart took place on the fourth lap of eighteen. The top five kept their positions and Laurens van Heupen ran wide from turn six, which Dino Beganovic took advantage of and moved up to sixth. On the next lap, Van Hepen was overtaken by Sami Megetunif, and Leonardo Fornaroli attacked Nikita Bedrin in vain. In turn, two-wheel contact occurred between the cars, Bedrin drove on the gravel, but returned to the track before his opponent.

On the same fifth lap, Callum Voisin crashed at turn seven, resulting in the return of the safety car.

The restart took place on the eighth lap. The top four kept their positions, but Sami Megetunif, braking for the second corner, hit Beganovich from behind, lost control of his car, flew into the gravel and got stuck. The race was over for Megetunif, Dino Beganovic was ahead of Browning in the battle for fifth place and the safety car came back on track.

The third restart took place on the eleventh lap, which this time went smoothly and the drivers in the top ten retained their positions. Leader Leon started to increase his lead and set the fastest lap.

On the twelfth lap, Gabriele attacked Mini Van Heupen in the combination of turns 5-6 and reached seventh place with a beautiful maneuver. On the next lap, Goethe overtook Tramnitz in the battle for second place.

After this, the safety car came onto the track for the fourth time due to the departure of Tasanapol Intrafuvasak. The AIX driver drove to the pits under his own power, so the restart took place quite quickly: on the fifteenth lap.

The riders retained their position in the top ten. Kasper Stuka started to hold back the peloton, allowing the top three to quickly increase their lead.

On the seventeenth lap, Beganović was able to overtake Stuka and move up to fourth place. In the seventh corner Stuka tried to overtake Browning, but Luke hit Kasper’s left rear wheel with his front wing and drove straight into the gravel. For the championship leader, the race ended and the virtual safety car mode was activated on track.

The race resumed a few bends before the finish. Noel Leon “slept through” this moment, which Oliver Goethe took advantage of and took the lead exiting Turn 15. He crossed the finish line first, but Noel Leon still won the race!

The fact is that Goethe and Tramnitz each received a 5-second penalty for violating the safety car procedure. This moved Goethe and Tramnitz to second and third place in the protocol. Oliver Goethe received an extra point for the best lap.

Gabriele Mini finished sixth and was tied in the individual rankings with Browning and Leonardo Fornaroli, who did not earn any points. Nikita Bedrin earned two points for ninth place.