Feature
Non-stop action Down Under: Melbourne Team-By-Team Review
Round 2 in Melbourne served up a treat with plenty of action across the three days of racing at the Albert Park Street Circuit.
A few names stood out namely Dino Beganovic and rookie Martinius Stenshorne, with both drivers entering their names into the Formula 3 winners’ circle in fine style.
Here’s a look at the 2024 grid, team-by-team coming out of Melbourne.
PREMA RACING
Beganovic went from third on the grid to score his first victory in F3 in the Melbourne Feature Race. He overtook teammate Gabriele Minì and Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli and managed his tyres brilliantly on his way to taking top honours on Sunday.
This win pushes him up to fourth in the Drivers' Championship, although his 28 points is still four shy of his teammate Minì. The Italian followed up his points scoring effort in the Sprint Race with a drive to the podium in the Feature, finishing P3 – his first trip to the rostrum in 2024.
The third member of the team, rookie Arvid Lindblad caught the eye in Melbourne, as he fought for another Sprint Race victory. He just did not have enough to overtake Stenshorne late on but it’s a second podium in as many race weekends. A strong start life in F3 for the 16-year-old.
READ MORE: Rosin: Beganovic did ‘nearly a perfect job’ as PREMA streak clear in Melbourne
TRIDENT
Trident enjoyed a fairly consistent weekend across all three cars in the opening weekend in Sakhir, but Melbourne proved to be a tougher challenge for the team, in particular their two rookies.
Sami Meguetounif showed good pace but a crash in Qualifying put him on the back foot for the rest of the weekend as he was forced to start both races from P26. He did however fight back well in both events finishing 17th in the Sprint and 12th in the Feature. As for Santiago Ramos he qualified in 18th before a collision in the Feature Race brought an end to his weekend.
But there were plenty of positives to take from Fornaroli’s weekend as the Italian driver put in a brilliant performance to qualify on pole. He led the 23-lap spectacle for a while but just did not have enough to keep Beganovic behind, ultimately crossing the line to take a well-earned P2.
READ MORE: Leonardo Fornaroli’s Melbourne Weekend in his Words
HITECH PULSE-EIGHT
For the second consecutive weekend Hitech Pulse-Eight take home a winner’s trophy with rookie Stenshorne producing a brilliant performance, after lining up second, to hold off Lindblad to win Saturday’s Sprint Race.
As for Luke Browning, he leaves Melbourne still at the top of the Drivers’ Standings, although tied with Fornaroli on 37 points. He was forced to retire from the Sprint before narrowly missing out on a podium in the Feature Race after Minì made his way past him late on for P3. Still, it was another strong weekend to start the season from the Briton.
It was not the easiest of weekends however for Cian Shields, who was playing catchup after crashing out in Free Practice. He showed good pace in both races – finishing 25th in the Sprint and 20th in the Feature – and will be able to use the learning from Melbourne going forward.
ART GRAND PRIX
It was a mixed Melbourne weekend for ART Grand Prix as Laurens van Hoepen collected his second consecutive Sprint Race podium as he took the chequered flag in P3. However, having started on pole, he would have been disappointed not to keep a hold of P1, but two trophies to start his rookie campaign is a very welcome return for the Dutch racer.
As for the home favourite Christian Mansell, he qualified in P10 and finished both races in the same position. It was an action-packed affair for the Australian as he was forced to do plenty of battling out on track and while he left with points, he would have hoped for more at Albert Park.
Lastly, Nikola Tsolov showed good pace in Qualifying as he set the seventh fastest time of the afternoon. However, he struggled over a race distance, slipping through the field in both events and finishing outside of the points.
CAMPOS RACING
Campos Racing left Sakhir believing that there was more pace in the car than they had shown and in Melbourne we saw more of what the Spanish team and their three drivers had to offer with all scoring points in both races.
Mari Boya achieved the most points for the team as he narrowly missed out on a podium in the Sprint Race, finishing fourth before producing a number of impressive overtakes to score another top-10 result in the Feature, placing seventh.
READ MORE: HIGHLIGHTS: Beganovic earns maiden F3 win in Melbourne Feature Race
He lost out on P6 to teammate Sebastián Montoya, the Colombian twice producing eye-catching comeback drives through the field after starting in P15. After a start to the season blighted by illness, this performance will go a long way to helping him build momentum heading to Europe.
Oliver Goethe converted his P9 Qualifying result in Melbourne into two points-scoring efforts. The first in the Sprint Race had him fight with Boya before ultimately crossing the line in fifth. He struggled with his tyres in the Feature and after dropping down the order he was able to recover to finish ninth.
MP MOTOSPORT
After a strong weekend in Sakhir in which Tim Tramnitz finished on the podium in the Feature Race, MP Motorsport and their three rookies struggled to transfer that form over to the streets of Melbourne.
Qualifying seemed to be where the Dutch team struggled, with Tramnitz setting the 22nd-fastest time in Friday’s pole position shootout. The German driver did however produce two spirited drives to P12 in the Sprint Race and P15 in the longer 23-lap affair, despite contact on the opening lap.
Alex Dunne in P17 was the lead MP driver in Qualifying and with his drive to seventh in the Sprint Race was the only one of the trio to score points for the team. He, like Kacper Sztuka, will be hoping to improve their one-lap prowess with the Polish rookie lining up in 19th for both events.
Despite not scoring a points results, Sztuka will take plenty of confidence from his performance as he made his way forward in both races. A good sign of his growing comfort in F3 as he looks to build momentum heading to Europe.
JENZER MOTORSPORT
Jenzer Motorsport showed signs of good form in Sakhir and that translated to Melbourne in particular for Charlie Wurz, who showed impressive maturity to manage his tyres to finish in P5 in the Feature Race – the lone rookie in the to score points in Sunday’s race.
His teammate Max Esterson was handed a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits in the Sprint Race, dropping him from P19 to 26th before finishing 14th in the Feature after starting 20th.
Matías Zagazeta will leave Melbourne with confidence even though they scored no points given that they were able to move forward in what was a tough Feature Race, with the Peruvian going from P21 to 17th. A strong foundation for both to build on heading into the Barcelona tests, with all three drivers in the top-20.
READ MORE: Charlie Wurz: ‘We knew we had tyre advantage crucial to top 5 result’
PHM AIX RACING
PHM AIX Racing left Melbourne with their heads held high in large part thanks to Nikita Bedrin’s performance across the weekend. The second-year driver qualified in an exceptional fourth place and converted that into hard fought points in the Feature Race with his P8 result.
The German-based team will also be very encouraged by what they saw from Joshua Dufek who qualified 13th. Unfortunately for the rookie, he slipped through the field in both races and finished out of the top 20. But the pace shown by the 19-year-old in Qualifying will encourage both he and the team.
But it was not the easiest of weekends for Tasnapol Inthraphuvasak and he crashed out in the opening exchanges in both races. An unfortunate weekend for the Thai racer but one he no doubt will be keen to rectify in Imola.
VAN AMERSFOORT RACING
It has not been the start to the season that Van Amersfoort Racing would have expected as they are still yet to score a point in the first two rounds of the 2024 campaign. It was not the cleanest of weekends for the three drivers each having their own collisions that ultimately ended their pursuit of points.
Tommy Smith and Sophia Floersch suffered contact in the opening exchanges of the Feature Race and, while Noel León placed 25th in the 23-lap affair, it came a day after he was forced to retire with contact damage in the Sprint Race. The test in Barcelona will be very welcome for VAR, who will keen to use the three days as a way to get their season back on track before Round 3 in Imola.
RODIN MOTORSPORT
As will Rodin Motorsport, who like VAR are yet to score a point so far this season. But Joseph Loake’s P14 in the Sprint Race was a sign that the team have pace, although the British driver crashed out in the Feature Race. His compatriot Callum Voisin also scored a top-20 result in the Sprint while Piotr Wisnicki placed 23rd in both races. Not the results they would have wanted but there is certainly an air of positivity around Rodin heading to Europe.