SPRINT RACE: Kato flies through for maiden victory as Slater extends championship lead

Taito Kato went from ninth to the top step of the podium in the Monza Sprint Race, putting in a phenomenal performance to claim his first victory in FIA Formula 3.

The ART Grand Prix driver had to hold off TRIDENT’s Freddie Slater, who went from P12 to second, on the final lap to claim victory.

The Championship leader extends his advantage to 17 points, with rival Ugo Ugochukwu finishing in P14. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi took the final spot on the podium in third.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was a good start from the Rodin Motorsport front row as Brando Badoer and Pedro Clerot worked together to keep Tuukka Taponen in P3 in the opening few corners.

Behind them, Alessandro Giusti made a good start to get ahead of Fernando Barrichello for P4.

Badoer had done a good job to break the tow to his teammate but locked up into Turn 1 on Lap 2, allowing Clerot to close in on the run to the Roggia chicane.

The Italian’s scruffy second lap continued at the exit of the Ascari chicane, where he ran wide, with his teammate then taking the lead going into the final corner.

Taponen then went to the inside of Badoer at Parabolica to take P2 on Lap 4, but as they went down the main straight, the top five were battling for the lead.

Barrichello, Badoer and Taponen then made contact on the run to Turn 1. The latter two made it back into the pitlane with front wing damage before dropping to the rear of the field.

As for Barrichello, he stopped on track with rear suspension damage, bringing out the Safety Car. In all of this, Giusti took the lead ahead of Clerot with Rivera up to third ahead of Kato.

Racing resumed on Lap 7 of 18, and it was an excellent restart from Giusti, as Kato went around the outside of Rivera at Turn 1 for P3.

Mattia Colnaghi was also on the move getting past Yamakoshi for P5 at the opening corner.

The Argentinian driver then locked up into Turn 1 on the next lap, and went through the runoff area, dropping him down to P8. Slater’s steady charge saw him up in sixth ahead of James Wharton.

The Virtual Safety Car was soon signalled with Maciej Gladysz having stopped on track, but with his ART car cleared, racing continued on Lap 9.

Clerot had a great restart and took the lead from Giusti into Turn 3, while Yamakoshi found the door shut by Rivera at the same corner.

Giusti’s tough lap continued with Kato taking P2 from him on the run to Parabolica. The French driver did retake the position down the main straight which soon turned into the lead as Clerot stopped on track with an issue.

The Safety Car was back out with Gerrard Xie and Woohyun Shin having also made contact at Turn 1. Both drivers were out the car and ok.

Giusti led the field away on Lap 14 with all three cars cleared, with Rivera running wide at Turn 1 after a battle with Kato for P3. Slater took advantage of this to take fourth position from the Campos.

In the battle for the final points paying positions, Enzo Deligny went around the outside of Wharton for P8 at the Ascari chicane, although the PREMA driver took back the place.

It was a tough few corners for Giusti, who went from the lead to fourth, after losing out to Kato and Yamakoshi. Slater then went around the outside of the MP driver for P3 at Turn 1, despite a brief run on the grass and slight contact between the two.

The Championship leader was flying and was up to second after making a move past Yamakoshi at the final corner, although the Van Amersfoort Racing driver retook the place at Turn 1.

ART then came on the radio to tell Kato to give it everything on the penultimate lap, and he obliged as he kept the lead going onto the final tour.

Slater and Giusti then went past Yamakoshi into Turn 1, although the VAR driver was able to retake P3 from the Frenchman a few corners later.

The TRIDENT driver was putting a lot of pressure on Kato, but the ART driver held on to take his first win in Formula 3, with Slater going from P12 to second, as Yamakoshi rounded out the podium.

Yevan David made a final lap overtake on Giusti for P4, with Colnaghi recovering to sixth ahead of Rivera. Deligny finished eighth, ahead of Nicola Lacorte as Bruno del Pino rounded out the top 10.

KEY QUOTE – Taito Kato, ART Grand Prix

“This means a lot because the last couple of races we were quite struggling with the performance. It was quite frustrating for me and for the team as well, and then to finally ne back on the podium for the first time since Melbourne.

“So it’s quite a long time ago. But I still remember how to drive to the win. It’s incredible. I’m speechless. The car was amazing all the race. I just want to say thank you to my team and my engineers, my mechanics, all the fans. It's a lot of effort. There is a lot of support to me, and I’m really grateful to drive in Monza.”

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Freddie Slater moves to 139 points and extends his championship lead over Ugo Ugochukwu to 17 points going into the Feature Race. Ernesto Rivera is up to third on 76 points with Théophile Nael a point behind in fourth. Brando Badoer stays fifth with 71 points.

In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing retain their lead on 273 points with TRIDENT second on 207. Van Amersfoort Racing are third on 144 points, with ART Grand Prix jump up to fourth on 130, as Rodin Motorsport round out the top five on 121.

UP NEXT

The drivers get one more chance to claim victory at the Temple of Speed, with lights out for the Feature Race set for 08:15 local time on Sunday.