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Edition

Australia

France F3: Smolyar takes dramatic last-lap win from Martins

ART Grand Prix’s Alexander Smolyar fought through the field to take his second FIA Formula 3 win of the year after a last-lap tussle for the lead with Victor Martins.

Watch: F3: Smolyar takes dramatic last-lap win from Martins

In a sprint race which saw five different leaders, the action went down to the last sector, with Smolyar, who started sixth, battling the MP Motorsport driver, who finished in second, for the win.

Alpine Academy driver Martins had looked set to take his first victory in F3 at his home race after starting tenth and charging through the field, but was passed by Smolyar in a dramatic tussle on lap 20.

Jenzer Motorsport’s Calan Williams, who started on pole, took his first F3 points finish and his first podium finishing third, while Charouz Racing System’s Logan Sargeant finished fourth.

Trident’s Clement Novalak finished fifth, with newly-announced Sauber Academy driver Juan Manuel Correa (ART Grand Prix) finishing sixth.

Williams had a good start off the line, with Sargeant passing Trident’s David Schumacher to move up to second place by the first turn, while Hitech Grand Prix’s Iwasa moved up into P3.

The virtual safety car was briefly deployed on lap 2 after Johnathan Hoggard, racing in his first weekend for Jenzer Motorsport, went off after a collision and stopped at the side of the track.

By lap 7, Smolyar and Correa were embroiled in a battle for fourth place, while Sargeant took the lead from Williams in a tense three-car battle with Iwasa, who then took second into Le Beausset.

Iwasa took the lead from Sargeant into Signes on lap 10, while further behind the leading pair, Martins passed Correa into fifth using DRS.

Smolyar finally passed Williams into P3 on lap 13, before taking P2 from Sargeant on lap 17.

Iwasa was handed a five second penalty after all four of his wheels left the track while he attempted to pass Sargeant, demoting him from the podium, and leaving him to eventually finish in eighth.

The last few laps saw dramatic place-trading, with Martins, Smolyar, Williams and Sargeant battling for the top three spots.

Martins took the lead on lap 18, but was passed by Smolyar on the final lap.

ART Grand Prix’s Frederik Vesti, who finished 15th, took the bonus points for the fastest lap.

Prema Racing’s Arthur Leclerc, who started in last place, stormed through the pack to finish 12th, putting him on reverse grid pole for this afternoon’s second sprint race.

Hitech Grand Prix’s Jak Crawford will start alongside him on the front row, while Prema’s Olli Caldwell and Dennis Hauger will line up on the second row.

Iwasa will start fifth, with Trident’s Jack Doohan in sixth.

Read Also:

Results

Cla Driver Team Laps Time Gap
1 Russian Federation Alexander Smolyar
France ART Grand Prix 20 -
2 France Victor Martins
Netherlands MP Motorsport 20 0.600 0.600
3 Australia Calan Williams
Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 20 1.200 1.200
4 United States Logan Sargeant
Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 20 1.700 1.700
5 United Kingdom Clement Novalak
Italy Trident 20 2.300 2.300
6 United States Juan Manuel Correa
France ART Grand Prix 20 2.600 2.600
7 Australia Jack Doohan
Italy Trident 20 2.700 2.700
8 Ayumu Iwasa
United Kingdom HitechGP 20 5.800 5.800
9 Norway Dennis Hauger
Italy Prema Powerteam 20 6.200 6.200
10 United Kingdom Olli Caldwell
Italy Prema Powerteam 20 6.400 6.400
11 Jak Crawford
United Kingdom HitechGP 20 8.000 8.000
12 Arthur Leclerc
Italy Prema Powerteam 20 9.000 9.000
13 Caio Collet
Netherlands MP Motorsport 20 9.300 9.300
14 Italy Lorenzo Colombo
Spain Campos Racing 20 9.700 9.700
15 Denmark Frederik Vesti
France ART Grand Prix 20 12.700 12.700
16 Germany David Schumacher
Italy Trident 20 12.900 12.900
17 Oliver Rasmussen
Germany HWA AG 20 27.900 27.900
18 Pierre-Louis Chovet
Spain Campos Racing 20 30.700 30.700
19 Reshad de
Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 20 31.800 31.800
20 United States Kaylen Frederick
United Kingdom Carlin 20 32.200 32.200
21 Brazil Enzo Fittipaldi
Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 20 33.800 33.800
22 Ido Cohen
United Kingdom Carlin 20 38.700 38.700
23 Italy Matteo Nannini
Germany HWA AG 20 40.800 40.800
24 Filip Ugran
Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 20 41.000 41.000
25 Rafael Villagómez
Germany HWA AG 20 1'01.300 1'01.300
26 Czech Republic Roman Staněk
United Kingdom HitechGP 20 1'15.700 1'15.700
27 Amaury Cordeel
Spain Campos Racing 20 1'21.500 1'21.500
28 United Kingdom Jonny Edgar
United Kingdom Carlin 20 1'42.800 1'42.800
29 Tijmen van
Netherlands MP Motorsport 19 1 lap
United Kingdom Johnathan Hoggard
Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 18

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Edition

Australia