Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Tuukka Taponen took an untroubled lights-to-flag victory in FIA Formula 3’s final round at the Madring as Ugo Ugochukwu followed him home to claim the drivers’ title.
Fittingly, local team Campos Racing added the drivers’ title to the teams’ championship at their home race in Madrid. Speaking after the race, Ugochukwu talked of a “superclinical weekend, with no mistakes the whole weekend and a perfect way to end the season. I just tried to stay as cool as possible.
“It felt like a much longer race than usual. Every single kerb felt louder than usual, you start hearing weird sounds but I just had to keep it clean until the end. Once I crossed the finishing line I could finally relax.”
Coming into the race level on points with Audi junior Freddie Slater, Ugochukwu was able to cruise to the title once he had fought off an early challenge from race one winner, Pedro Clerot. Slater’s season ended in disappointment though not for want of trying.
Relegated to eighth on the grid after problems in qualifying, Slater was unable to make progress in the race where overtaking again proved close to impossible. He thanked his Trident team for an “amazing year” over the radio as he returned to the pits.
Taponen had to survive a one-lap shootout after a late safety car for Hiyu Yamakoshi’s stationary Van Amersfoort Racing car was dealt with rapidly by the circuit marshals. The Ferrari junior kept his cool to take his first win in F3 and jump up to third in the final points standings, helping MP Motorsport to claim the same spot in the teams’ championship.
Taponen converted pole into the race lead, holding off Ugochukwu into Turn 1. From there, he kept clear of the barriers and calmly controlled the race.
With little action at the front, all eyes were on Slater as the field streamed through the opening sector. The Trident driver was under attack though as AIX Racing’s Yevan David found a way past the British driver, demoting Slater to ninth.
It wasn’t long before Slater fought back, moving round the outside of the Sri Lankan on lap 5 as the field headed into Turn 1.
The yellow flags were out briefly as Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi found the wall at the chicane after a battle with Woohyun Shin. The Thai driver continued but the damage proved terminal as the DAMS driver became the first retiree.
The top 20 all remained within one second of each other as a DRS train began to form. Hiyu Yamakoshi looked to the inside of Théophile Nael but cut the corner heading into the chicane. Nael lept across the run off but kept the position after the Japanese driver also cut the corner.
With Slater pulling away and looking to challenge Enzo Deligny for eighth, David was left to fend off Ernesto Rivera behind. A huge moment heading into Turn 18 gave Rivera his golden chance to push past David and move himself into ninth.
With just a handful of laps left the yellow flags were back out, this time for Yamakoshi who was stationary heading into Turn 5. The safety car was thrown with just two laps remaining but a superb marshal effort meant racing resumed with one lap remaining.
Taponen led away at the restart from Ugochukwu. Towards the rear Jose Garfias was spun around by Noah Stromsted but continued.
Meanwhile, Ugochukwu managed to keep it clean and claim second position, enough to claim the FIA F3 drivers’ championship. Slater was unable to make an impact on Deligny ahead and had to settle for an eighth place finish, a sad end to a brilliant rookie campaign.
Clerot took the final podium position, with Taito Kato, Mattia Colnaghi and Alessandro Giusti completing the top six.