Sami Megetunif opened the scoring for Formula 3 victories

Sami Megetunif won the Formula 3 race in Imola on Sunday. For the French Trident driver, this was the first success of his career in his debut season in the youth series. Together with him, Saturday’s sprint winner Oliver Goethe and teammate Leonardo Fornaroli climbed to the podium.

On Sunday morning the riders, who had to complete 22 laps, were greeted with warm and cloudless weather in Imola. At the start, pole holder Santiago Ramos retained the lead, although Leonardo Fornaroli actively put pressure on the Mexican driver.

Luke Browning gained two positions and moved up to seventh. Oliver Goethe also gained three positions – he climbed to fourth place and set the best time.

On the third lap, Fornaroli, with the help of DRS, attacked Ramos and took the lead entering the second corner. Behind the leaders, Luke Browning overtook Dino Beganovic for sixth in a similar maneuver.

On the fourth lap, Browning tried to pass Arvid Lindblad in turn two, the rivals almost collided and Arvid retained his position. Beganovich took advantage of this and attacked Luke in Turn 5, regaining the position he had lost on the previous lap.

On the fifth lap, Goethe Ramos attacked in turn two and moved up to second place. Goethe did not stop there and overtook Fornaroli for the lead on the next lap when the engine of Leonardo’s car failed on the starting line. Fornaroli lost speed and dropped to fifth place, but then his technique returned to normal and he returned to race pace.

On lap eight, Tommy Smith spun in turn three after touching the gravel. He left the track, but was able to return.

On lap nine Browning overtook Dino Beganovic for the second time of the race. Luke moved up to sixth place. Behind the top ten, Nikita Bedrin suffered a puncture after getting into a fight with an opponent off the track. Nikita drove slowly to the pits to get new tires.

On the tenth lap Fornaroli overtook Lindblad in the battle for fourth place. On the next lap Arvid lost another position and passed Browning’s DRS on the straight.

On lap twelve, Sami Megetunif overtook Ramos for second place, taking advantage of DRS. Dino Beganovich passed Lindblad. On the thirteenth lap, Arvid again lost a position – Gabriele Mini overtook him in the battle for seventh place.

On the fourteenth lap Fornaroli returned to the top three and overtook Santiago Ramos with the help of DRS. On the next lap, Ramos was similarly overtaken by Browning. The tires of Santiago’s car were quite worn and on the sixteenth lap he lost another position, leaving Beganovich fifth.

On the seventeenth lap, Sami Megetunif approached the leading Goethe and made the first attempt to attack Oliver. On the eighteenth lap, Megetunif made a more decisive attack and took the lead. Behind them, Meaney overtook Ramos for sixth place.

Sami Megetunif confidently took the race to victory. Oliver Goethe withstood pressure from Leonardo Fornaroli, held the fastest lap and finished second. Fornaroli finished third and reached the podium for the third time this season. This result allowed the Italian Trident rider to take the lead in the personal classification.

Luke Browning finished the race fourth and dropped to second in the championship. Dino Beganovic and Gabriele Mini, who finished fifth and sixth, share third place in the individual competition. Nikita Bedrin finished 30th, one lap behind the leader.

The fourth round of the Formula 3 season will take place in Monaco next week, May 23-26.