In a race not open to overtaking, as often happens on a circuit like the Hungaroring, theART Grand Prix celebrates the double with the victory of the Bulgarian Nikola Tsolov followed by his teammate Laurens van Hoepenauthor of the pole position in Friday’s qualifying. A Feature Race that also saw the Mexican on the podium Noel Leonwith Leonardo Fornaroli in fourth position. A final placing that was not entirely disappointing for the Piacenza-born Trident driver, who, as a result of his placing out of the points zone of Gabriele Minì and Luke Browningas well as for the Arvin Lindblad’s Retirement obtains significant points to get closer to the leadership occupied by the Sicilian from Prema with two events to go in the championship.
Race report
Fornaroli, who, after an extra formation lap due to technical problems with Tramnitz’s car, had made a good start from third on the grid, but not enough to overtake Van Hoepen and Leon. A failed attack that forced the young Trident talent to lift his foot to avoid contact, unlike Tsolov, who instead took the lead of the race ahead of his teammate and the Mexican from the Van Amersfoort team. From that moment until the 23rd and final lap, the top-4 remained unchanged until the checkered flag, despite numerous attempts by Van Hoepen to take the lead, with the Bulgarian driver always resisting his attacks.
More interesting, however, was the development of the standings in the middle of the group: after having gained a position at the start, thus moving to 12th place, Minì took advantage of Inthraphuvasak’s mistake on turn 11 with less than ten laps to go to move into eleventh position right behind his teammate Dino Beganovic. At Prema, however, there was no team play to allow the Sicilian to move into the points zone, with the leader of the general standings overtaken by an aggressive Mari Boya with two laps to go. Shortly after the Spanish driver’s action, contact between Zagazeta and Lindblad forced the Race Direction to enter the Safety Carwith the race effectively finishing behind the safety car and with Minì 11th ahead of Browning. In this way, the Alpine talent maintains the lead in the standings, but with an advantage of still 4 points over Browning and 6 over Lindblad. A result that particularly pleases Fornaroli, who surpasses the 100-point mark at -10 from Minì.
F3 / Feature Race, Hungary 2024: Finishing Order
POS. | PILOT | TEAM |
1 | Nikola Tsolov | ART Grand Prix |
2 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART Grand Prix |
3 | Noel Leon | From Amersfoort |
4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | trident |
5 | Christian Mansell | ART Grand Prix |
6 | Santiago Ramos | trident |
7 | Callum Voisin | Rodin |
8 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing |
9 | Oliver Goethe | Fields |
10 | Dino Beganovic | Press |
11 | Mary Boya | Fields |
12 | Gabriele Mini | Press |
13 | Luke Browning | Hi-tech |
14 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hi-tech |
15 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing |
16 | Max Esterson | Jenzer |
17 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport |
18 | Cian Shields | Hi-tech |
19 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport |
20 | Sebastián Montoya | Fields |
21 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport |
22 | Peter Wisnicki | Rodin |
23 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing |
24 | Sophia Florsch | From Amersfoort |
25 | Tommy Smith | From Amersfoort |
26 | Sami Meguetounif | trident |
27 | Joseph Loake | Rodin |
28 | Arvid Lindblad* | Press |
29 | Matias Zagazeta* | Hi-tech |
30 | Charlie Wurz* | Jenzer |
Next appointment
Formula 3 will follow F2 and F1 already on the occasion of next weekend for the Belgian Grand Prixon the circuit of Spa Francorchamps. Unlike the other two categories, the arrival on one of the most beautiful and historic tracks in the international motorsport scene will be the penultimate appointment of the season and the last one before the summer break. At that point, the series will be back on track again between the end of August and the beginning of September for the test that will prove decisive for the assignment of the title in Monza, in the ‘Temple of Speed’.
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