Martins wins F3 feature race at Barcelona to claim points lead

Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins claimed victory in the Barcelona’s FIA Formula 3 feature race after taking the lead in the first corner.

Behind Martins, polesitter Roman Stanek resisted the pressure from Hitech GP’s Isack Hadjar throughout the race as they finished second and third respectively.

Martins took the lead of the race from Trident’s Stanek around the outside of turn one. Meanwhile, his championship rival Arthur Leclerc dropped four places due to a slow start, completing the opening lap in ninth place.

The safety car was out on lap four as a consequence of an incident between Rafael Villagomez and Kush Maini at turn 12. The Indian touched the right-rear wheel of the Mexican, who was on the outside, resulting in Villagomez ending up in the wall. Maini was handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident.

At the restart, Prema’s Jak Crawford passed Hitech’s Kaylen Frederick for sixth place. Frederick was subsequently overtaken by Caio Collet, dropping to eighth.

Carlin’s Brad Benavides crashed out of the race at turn two on lap 11 of 24, bringing out the safety car once again.

When the race resumed, Saturday’s sprint race winner David Vidales attempted a move on Leclerc around the outside of turn one. Both drivers touched and the Campos Racing driver retired from the race at the end of the lap. Leclerc was able to continue in 11th, but received a five-second time penalty for the incident.

On the following lap, Hunter Yeany went into the inside of his Campos team-mate Pepe Marti at turn five. Yeany touched the left-rear wheel of Marti damaging his front-wing. Both drivers, who were running within the top 15, fell to the back of the pack.

In the closing stages, Leclerc tried to regain positions going through the grass on the pit straight, pushed off by an aggressive Juan Manuel Correa. The ART GP driver would retake 10th place with an unusual move at the entry of the chicane. This left Leclerc disadvantaged going onto the straight and Gregoire Saucy tried to take advantage of it. Leclerc held on to finish 11th on the road, 14th after his penalty was applied.

Trident’s Zane Maloney, who started from the pit-lane, avoided trouble and fought his way up to 13th place at the flag.

Race result (24 laps)