FEATURE RACE: Minì becomes eighth winner in 2024 with Monte Carlo victory

It was a lights-to-flag victory for PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Minì, leading from Pole Position to the chequered flag in a dramatic Monte Carlo Feature Race.

The Italian dealt with three Safety Car restarts to keep ART Grand Prix’s Christian Mansell and Luke Browning in the Hitech Pulse-Eight at bay in second and third-place respectively.

AS IT HAPPENED

Minì got a good launch to hold onto the lead over Mansell into Turn 1 as Browning followed the pair in third position. Further round the opening lap, Jenzer Motorsport driver Charlie Wurz was left in the barriers at Portier after contact with Rodin Motorsport’s Piotr Wisnicki to bring out a Safety Car. The Polish driver was later handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident.

Racing got back underway entering Lap 3 with Minì retaining the lead over the chasing pack but with Mansell was right in his wheel tracks.

Joseph Loake proved overtaking was possible around the Principality, diving to the inside of Mari Boya’s Campos Racing car at La Rascasse on Lap 6 to claim seventh place for Rodin.

With the opening third of the race run, Minì still had Mansell for company in second, unable to break out of DRS range to the Australian driver, while Browning had dropped several seconds back in third.

Having been passed, Boya was eager to re-gain the spot against Loake and a sizeable lock-up into the Nouvelle Chicane on Lap 14 meant he skipped the corner. One lap on and the Rodin driver ceded the position to avoid any possible sanction.

ART’s Laurens van Hoepen was on the move next, making a brave dive to the inside of Van Amersfoort Racing driver Noel León at Mirabeau to move into 10th.

With 10 laps remaining, Minì had broken Mansell’s pursuit and was over a second clear in the lead of the race.

Lap 20 and there was a three-car collision at Turn 5 involving León, ART driver Nikola Tsolov and Sami Meguetounif. The Trident driver was left out of the running, the other pair rejoined, but not before the Safety Car was deployed.

Tsolov had attempted a pass on the inside but tagged the VAR driver into a spin, leaving Meguetounif nowhere to go in avoidance. The Sprint Race winner was awarded a 10-second time penalty for the incident.

The Safety Car was withdrawn entering Lap 23 and Minì got a good enough restart to keep Mansell behind him.

Loake attempted another pass on Boya but with the door firmly shut on him at the Turn 6 hairpin, MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz profited to seize eighth position.

Seeking to take advantage himself, van Hoepen battled with the Rodin down towards Tabac, but slid into the barriers to bring out a third Safety Car.

The barriers were back in place in time for a final lap shootout with the Safety Car withdrawn with one lap remaining.

Minì repelled the last gasp challenge from Mansell to secure his first victory of the season and his second Feature Race triumph on the streets of Monte Carlo. Mansell followed him home in P2 with Browning earning third for Hitech.

PREMA’s Arvid Lindblad followed home in fourth ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli in the Trident. Boya was seventh ahead of Tramnitz, Loake and Oliver Goethe, who profited from the final incident to take the remaining point in 10th.

KEY QUOTE – Gabriele Minì, PREMA Racing

“Second win in a row in Monaco, it’s just amazing winning here. Both last year and this year, there’s one win you want and for sure it’s the win in Monaco. I tried to go for the fastest lap on one lap, but we weren’t great on the rear tyres, so I decided to save instead of pushing to the end. I think it paid off because the fastest lap was quite fast, and I’d have needed to take a big risk to achieve it. In the end, every time there was a restart we pulled a big gap, so I think it was the right strategy to do and we brought home 25 points.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

With Feature Race victory and points for Pole, Gabriele Minì takes over at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, climbing onto 72 points. Luke Browning is his closest rival, four points further back in second position while Leonardo Fornaroli falls to third position, now on 64 points. Dino Beganovic added to his tally to remain fourth in the Standings on 58, while teammate Arvid Lindblad climbs up into the top five, now on 44.

In terms of the Teams’ Standings, PREMA Racing remain the team to beat, leading on 174 points after Round 4. Trident are next, now on 119 points, with ART Grand Prix third on 85. Campos Racing have the same number of points as their French rivals to sit fourth, while Hitech Pulse-Eight are fifth, moving onto 78 points.

UP NEXT

There’s a short break now between Rounds 4 and 5 before Formula 3 reconvenes in Barcelona. The next race weekend around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya takes place between June 21-23.