Photo: Eurocup-3
MP Motorsport’s Mari Boya has made it three Eurocup-3 wins from four starts after a great comeback drive to win race two at Monza.
Boya started second on the grid alongside Campos Racing’s Francesco Braschi, and chased the poleman through the opening lap after forcing Braschi into a lock-up at the opening corner.
Campos’s Esteban Masson slipstreamed past Boya for second place at the start of lap two, and on lap three he attempted to pass Braschi for the lead at the della Roggia chicane.
He tried again on lap four and got the move done, with Boya attempting to make it a thre-wide move but cutting acros the chicane and dropping to fourth behind Javier Sagrera who passed Braschi for second at the final corner.
The slipstream effect meant Boya had been relegated to sixth by turn one, and he then had 13 laps to claw his way back to the front.
He immediately reclaimed one spot from Daniel Nogales, then slipstreamed past Jose Garfias two laps later. The same thing occurred as he took third from Braschi, then did not take long to close the gap to the top two.
Sagrera took the lead on lap 11 of 18 and his agressive defence once ahead enabled Boya to look at passing Masson. It took a while due to Masson’s strong defences, but the tow was so strong that he was then able to pass him exiting the final corner and a mistake from Sagrera kept the pair right on the tail of the leader.
Boya moved past into turn one on lap 14, as Braschi and Garfias started to attack Masson who had dropped back.
The top three managed to hold their positions, with Masson actually attacking Sagrera again towards the end, with Garfias finishing fourth after a late battle with Sebastian Ogaard.
Braschi sank to seventh and briefly passed Garfias by cutting the first chicane, then almost pushed him off as he let him back past. Another off at the della Roggia chicane meant he finished behind Bruno del Pino too, and dropped to third in the standings behind Boya.
There was unusual scenes after the race as Daniel Nogales came to a stop at turn one with a smoking car.
Race result (18 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | 32m51.742s |
| 2 | Javier Sagrera | Palou Motorsport | +1.568s |
| 3 | Esteban Masson | Campos Racing | +1.881s |
| 4 | Joe Garfias | MP Motorsport | +3.720s |
| 5 | Sebastian Ogaard | MP Motorsport | +4.367s |
| 6 | Bruno del Pino | MP Motorsport | +4.905s |
| 7 | Francesco Braschi | Campos Racing | +4.981s |
| 8 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos Racing | +5.541s |
| 9 | Daniel Nogales | Drivex School | +10.531s |
| 10 | Cenyu Han | GRS | +10.658s |
| 11 | Miron Pingasov | Palou Motorsport | +11.073s |
| 12 | William Karlsson | Drivex School | +11.430s |
| 13 | Suleiman Zanfari | Campos Racing | +14.163s |
| 14 | Nick Gilkes | Drivex School | +15.155s |
| Ret | Sebastian Gravlund | MP Motorsport | |
| Fastest lap: Ogaard, 1m47.757s
Championship standings |
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