SPRINT RACE: Del Pino leads home Deligny for VAR 1-2 after Red Flag

Bruno Del Pino claimed his maiden FIA Formula 3 victory in Melbourne Sprint Race ahead of his Van Amersfoort Racing teammate Enzo Delingy and Rodin Motorsport’s Brando Badoer.

The race was Red Flagged and then called early following a collision between PREMA Racing teammates James Wharton and Louis Sharp.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was a great start for the all-Van Amersfoort front row, with Del Pino keeping the lead ahead of Deligny, while Badoer got ahead of Noah Stromsted to take P3 at Turn 1.

It was a bad start for the home favourite Wharton, however, as having started fifth, he was down to P8 by the end of the first lap. The PREMA Racing driver ran deep into the first corner after trying to avoid colliding with the rear of Stromsted’s car.

On to Lap 2, Mattia Colnaghi ran wide and into to the gravel at the exit of Turn 12. The MP Motorsport driver had been battling with Maciej Gladysz for P6, but was now at the back of the field after returning to the track.

By the start of Lap 6, Del Pino had built a 1.3s led over Deligny, who was coming under pressure from Badoer and Stromsted. The top four had built a nice buffer and were two seconds clear of Taito Kato in P5.

Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu then went around the outside of Nicola Lacorte at Turn 9 to move up to ninth.

Just ahead of Ugochukwu, Wharton and Louis Sharp went wheel-to-wheel throughout the opening sector on Lap 8, but made contact at the entry to Turn 6, which sent them both into the barrier.

With both the cars and the track needing to be cleared and the barriers having to be repaired, the Red Flags were waved, before the Stewards later confirmed that the race would not be resumed.

This gave VAR their second consecutive victory in the Melbourne Sprint Race with Del Pino winning ahead of Deligny, while Badoer took a maiden podium in third.

As a result of more than 25% of the racing laps having been completed, only the top five are awarded points, leaving Stromsted in P4 and Kato in P5 as the only other point scorers.

KEY QUOTE – Bruno Del Pino, Van Amersfoort Racing

“Grabbed a victory from pole position, so of course no better result than this. Super happy for the team, just a bit of a sour feeling with the points sharing, but hopefully the other drivers are okay and lets continue on to tomorrow.”

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Bruno del Pino leads the Standings going into the Feature Race with five points, ahead of VAR teammate Enzo Deligny on four. Rodin Motorsport’s Brando Badoer is on three points, ahead of TRIDENT’s Noah Stromsted with two and ART Grand Prix rookie Taito Kato with one.

In the Teams’ Championship, Van Amersfoort Racing lead the way with nine points, ahead of Rodin Motorsport with three. TRIDENT is up and running with two points in third, with ART Grand Prix in fourth on one.

UP NEXT

The drivers will get another chance to go racing in Melbourne in Sunday’s Feature Race which is set to start at 08:50 local time.