F3 Italy: Fornaroli snatches title in astonishing last-gasp pass

Leonardo Fornaroli clinched championship glory with a stunning last-lap dive on ART’s Christian Mansell at the Parabolica, as Sami Meguetounif took victory in F3's Italian feature race.

He becomes the first driver to take the F3 crown without winning a single race, finishing second twice - including in the season-ending outing - and third five times.

With Fornaroli starting from pole and Mini third, all eyes were locked on the Italian duo between whom it appeared that the ultimate battle would be fought.

As outsiders Arvid Lindblad struggled to make ground and Luke Browning lost the rear of his Hitech at Ascari early on, this causing a safety car intervention, the championship became a clear two-horse battle on just the fourth lap.

The duel was one that shifted momentum repeatedly with Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport) taking the lead early on as both of the protagonists dropped back.

But an error following the safety car saw Fornaroli take a trip through the Ascari gravel and drop to fifth. At the same moment, Mini was passing Mansell for third.

It was this trio whom the action then centred around, as Fornaroli overcame the duo before a lap 20 lock-up while defending from Mini at the Rettifilo chicane resulted in heavy flatspots that hampered him for the remaining laps.

Passing Fornaroli shortly after at the Roggia chicane, Mini wasted no time in overtaking Mansell to secure what was a championship-winning points swing.

With the final DRS zone of the season cleared and only the Parabolica to round, it appeared set that Mini would stand atop the points table, but a hero-or-zero-style lunge from Fornaroli on Mansell changed the picture in an instant and provided a fitting climax to a thrilling season as the title was claimed by just two points.

However, some hours after the chequered flag, Mini was disqualified from the feature race due to running with tyre pressures that failed to adhere to the minimum prescribed levels. This extends Fornaroli's winning margin to 23 points. 

Going under the radar, Meguetounif secured his second win of the season, having also topped the podium at Imola earlier this season.

Monza - Feature race