Beganovic: Championship fight is on after ‘positive’ Sakhir pre-season test

Dino Beganovic ended this week’s Sakhir pre-season test in fine form as he posted the fastest time in the afternoon session on the final day. The PREMA Racing driver was pleased with the performance, and he is hopeful that it will translate into a strong title challenge.

The Ferrari Driver Academy member returns for a second campaign in Formula 3 with PREMA. He comes back as the highest-placed driver from last season’s Championship, having finished sixth thanks to his four podiums.

But Beganovic is keen to improve on that this year and, while he was happy to post a 1:48.285 late on in the afternoon to go fastest in Sakhir, he was a lot more satisfied with what he learned over the three days.

Reflecting after jumping out of the cockpit, Beganovic said: “It was a positive test, really really happy to be back on track after a long winter break. I've not been in the car since Macau. Really happy to be back racing and to be back driving the car.

“It's been an intense three days of testing, we definitely learned something, and we know what we need for the weekend here, which is really good.

“I'm happy about this, especially that we learned something because that's what testing is for, not to put a good lap time but it’s a bonus to put a good lap time, and I'm happy to finish off the test like this and to have a good feeling going heading into the race.”

He later added: “The race sims looked pretty good from our side. Also to finish off today with a good performance run was nice. But I'm mainly happy that we learned so much from this test. We will definitely look back not only from the first round but also in the middle of the season at this test what did and didn’t work.”

Beganovic is confident that he has grown as a driver over the winter break after learning from his 2023 experiences. The Swedish driver scored just two points in the final two rounds of the season at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza, a run he is keen to avoid repeating.

While it would be easy to dwell on that, Beganovic has used it to improve, and he believes that the signs were there in Bahrain that he and the team are heading in a positive direction.

When asked what it was that he was looking to improve this year, he replied: “We always say consistency is key and I would say it definitely is. If you want to win a championship you cannot go all or nothing.

READ MORE: Browning fastest on final day of Sakhir pre-season testing “You definitely need to think in the back of your head about the championship and just score as many points as you can, with every weekend. If you are not happy with the car, still score as many points as you can.

“This is what I am looking for and also to score points on both Saturday and Sunday. Last year I was really good on Sunday after a good qualifying, but there are more points that are important for the championship on Saturday.”

Looking ahead to the 2024 campaign, which starts in Bahrain at the end of the month, Beganovic was asked about his goal for the year. He said: “My goal and my mindset this year is to go for the title, to fight for the Championship definitely.”

“I am looking to do what I did in Regional in 2022 to win the Championship. I know how to win championships, I know how to win races, just need to put it together.”