Lindblad wins Euro 4’s third Monza race but is under investigation

Photo: ACI Sport

Arvid Lindblad is provisionally the winner of Euro 4’s third race at Monza, as he is being investigated for a clash that earned him the lead.

One victory contender’s chances ended immediately as US Racing’s Kacper Sztuka failed to get going from pole. Prema’s Freddie Slater inherited the lead, and went side-by-side with US Racing’s Akshay Bohra on the run to turn one. He got through it ahead, while team-mate James Wharton cut the first two corners and rejoined in third before dropping behind fellow Prema driver Lindblad as they reached Curva Grande.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Brando Badoer passed Prema’s Ugo Ugochukwu for fifth, and when Ugochukwu tried to reclaim the spot at the start of lap two he had a big lock-up and tagged Wharton who was spun into retirement.

The safety car was summoned, and by the time the field reached turn one on lap three Wharton’s car had been cleared, meaning racing could resume on lap four.

Ugochukwu cut the opening chicane at the restart and stayed in fifth, while Lindblad got into second and Badoer lost fourth to team-mate Ivan Domingues late in the lap.

Having eliminated a victory contender, Ugochukwu had his own hopes of winning ended by a drive-through penalty for the contact.

Badoer reclaimed fourth from Domingues on lap five, then gained another spot on lap six as went down the inside of Bohra at Parabolica. Lindblad had taken the lead from Slater at the start of that lap, but two laps later Slater moved back ahead.

After having a go at Slater entering the dellia Roggia chicane that time by, Lindblad actually ended up losing a place to Badoer at Parabolica and regained it the next lap after a three-wide move into turn one led to team-mate Tuukka Taponen cutting the chicane and passing both before letting them and Bohra by.

Lindblad overtook Slater at turn two on lap 13, and at the della Roggia chicane Slater got on the inside as he went for the lead. There was not room for both, with the pair colliding and Slater going into the barriers.

With Flavio Olivieri having also beached himself in the gravel after going off at Lesmo 2 the previous lap, it meant the safety car appeared and the clash between the Prema drivers was put under investigation.

Racing resumed on the last lap, and Lindblad weaved down the pit straight to try to break the tow to Badoer who chose the outside line for turn one. He briefly got ahead but cut turn two, as did Bohra and Taponen, and through Curva Grande the trio let Lindblad back past.

Lindblad therefore won, with Badoer second and Bohra defending aggressively against Taponen to secure third after they had swapped places twice. Zachary David then got past Taponen, while Domingues went from fifth to ninth before the safety car period but on the restart lap climbed back to sixth.

Other dramatic moments included Sztuka retiring with a broken front wing and a puncture, and both Niko Lacorte and Giacomo Pedrini entirely cutting the Ascari chicane, rejoining the track almost out of control but managing to avoid any contact. Aurelia Nobels did not start following her race two crash.

Race result (15 laps)