Pepe Marti won the opening round of the 2023 Formula 3 championship after an exhilarating race which had two Safety Cars in Bahrain.
The F3 sophomore, who started the sprint race in second, sealed the victory with an overtake around the outside of turn four on Franco Colapinto on lap 14.
The two drivers were joined on the podium by Caio Collet after a sprint race which saw two Safety car interventions within the first seven laps.
Ahead of F3’s fifth season over half the 30-car grid – 17 drivers – were making their first start in the category.
When the lights went out, Colapinto reacted quickly from his line and fended off Marti’s move around the outside of turn one to keep the lead. Marti’s overtaking attempt lost him a position, however, as a poor exit from the opening corner then allowed Collet to clinch second around the outside of turn two.
But having built up a half-a-second advantage after the opening lap, Colapinto’s lead was brought back to zero because of a Safety Car triggered by a collision between Rafael Villagomez and Luke Browning.
Heading into turn seven on the second lap, Villagomez cut across Browning to defend 12th. The two collided and the Van Amersfoort driver spun into the barriers.
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Browning’s race didn’t last much longer, as when the race went green again for lap seven the rookie was hit from the back at turn one and spun out of the race.
Amid the chaos, Marti had regained second after a back-and-forth battle with Collet, while Kaylen Frederick was hit at turn 10 which gave him a rear-right puncture.
The Safety Car was issued again before a full tour of the circuit, with the race restarting on lap 12 – two laps before Marti completed his race-winning overtake on Colapinto.
Having kept within a second of the MP Motorsport driver from the restart, Marti used DRS to get alongside heading into turn four before sealing his overtake around the outside of the corner.
The Campos Racing driver quickly extended his lead to clinch the victory but there was late action elsewhere. On the penultimate lap, Dino Beganovic overtook Paul Aron for fourth with a move on the outside of turn seven.
Oliver Goethe came home in sixth, ahead of Gregoire Saucy, Leonardo Fornaroli and Jonny Edgar, with Sebastian Montoya claiming the final point position in tenth. Gabriele Mini, who will start tomorrow’s feature race from pole position, came 20th in the season-opener.
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