Martinius Stenshorne, a rookie pilot from Hitech Pulse-Eight, emerged victorious in the Sprint Race of the FIA Formula 3 Championship in Melbourne, Australia. Stenshorne battled fiercely with Arvid Lindblad from Prema, securing his first victory in Formula 3. Laurens Van Hoepen, the pole position, finished third, completing the podium in a race full of exciting maneuvers among the top 10 competitors over 20 laps.
In the early stages, Van Hoepen held the lead, closely followed by Stenshorne and his teammate Christian Mansell. However, Mansell faced difficulties after a lock-up in the first corner, causing him to lose pace. As a result, the lead position changed hands several times between the top three drivers in the early laps.
Lindblad took advantage of Mansell’s slow pace, overtaking both ART drivers and closing in on the race leader, Stenshorne. On the 13th lap, the incident involving Tommy Smith and Tasanapol Inthrapuvasak led to the intervention of the Safety Car, allowing the entire field to regroup.
After the restart, Lindblad tried to pass Stenshorne for the lead, while also fending off the pressure from Van Hoepen in third place. However, Stenshorne managed the gap skillfully until the finish line, securing his first victory in Formula 3 and adding another triumph for the Hitech team, which had already celebrated Luke Browning’s victory in the Feature Race in Bahrain in the 1st Round of the Championship.
Browning, the current championship leader, faced challenges during the race, which required a pit stop on the 5th lap due to a technical issue. Although he managed to get back on track, he ended up at the back of the pack, one lap behind his teammate.
Van Hoepen defendió con éxito su posición en el podio a pesar de la intensa presión de Mari Boya de Campos Racing, quien terminó en cuarto lugar y marcó la vuelta más rápida, contribuyendo a un resultado impresionante para su equipo. Oliver Goethe y Sebastián Montoya, también de Campos Racing, tuvieron excelentes actuaciones, terminando en quinto y décimo lugar, respectivamente.
La suerte de Mansell cambió para peor, pasando de ser un candidato al podio a terminar fuera del top 3 debido a supuestos problemas en la parte trasera del coche y la degradación de los neumáticos. Dino Beganovic hizo progresos significativos, ganando valiosos puntos al avanzar desde la décima posición en la parrilla hasta el séptimo lugar. Nikita Bedrin y Montoya aseguraron sus primeros puntos en la clasificación de pilotos.
Alex Dunne de MP Motorsport protagonizó una impresionante recuperación desde la 17ª posición en la parrilla, terminando en noveno lugar y sumando dos puntos a su puntuación personal.
