Imola F3: Kari passes Stroll for maiden victory
Red Bull junior Niko Kari claimed his first European Formula 3 victory in Race 1 at Imola after making a move on championship leader Lance Stroll.
Photo by: James Gasperotti
Starting second, Kari slotted in behind Stroll after the start and put pressure on the Canadian before the safety car came in, as Pedro Piquet got stranded in the gravel.
Stroll continued to lead after the restart, with Kari keeping up but unable to make a move.
However, the safety car was soon out again as David Beckmann went off, the German retiring soon after passing Anthoine Hubert for sixth.
Once it was back to green, Kari stayed close to Stroll and went around the outside of him at Turn 1 to grab the lead.
He then completed the rest of the race in front with Stroll settling for second, less than a second adrift.
Joel Eriksson completed the podium, the Swede making three moves, including an impressive outside move at Tamburello for the spot.
Prema's Nick Cassidy and Hitech's George Russell took fourth and fifth respectively, with Hubert reclaiming sixth after Beckmann's retirement.
Ferrari junior Guan Yu Zhou took his best result since June in seventh ahead of Ralf Aron, Ben Barnicoat and Mikkel Jensen.
Maximilian Gunther failed to score points, as he only gained five positions from 17th on the grid.
That allowed Stroll to extend his championship lead to 86 with only 125 on offer in the remaining races.
Prema was crowned as teams' champion, claiming its fourth straight title in the series.
Race 1 results:
Pos. | Driver | Team | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Niko Kari | Motopark | 36'05.485 |
2 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | 0.788 |
3 | Joel Eriksson | Motopark | 0.998 |
4 | Nick Cassidy | Prema Powerteam | 2.301 |
5 | George Russell | Hitech GP | 2.701 |
6 | Anthoine Hubert | Van Amersfoort Racing | 4.997 |
7 | Guan Yu Zhou | Motopark | 6.591 |
8 | Ralf Aron | Prema Powerteam | 7.573 |
9 | Ben Barnicoat | Hitech GP | 7.991 |
10 | Mikkel Jensen | Mucke Motorsport | 8.409 |
11 | Harrison Newey | Van Amersfoort Racing | 9.574 |
12 | Maximilian Gunther | Prema Powerteam | 11.434 |
13 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech GP | 12.104 |
14 | Andy Chang | T-Sport | 18.283 |
15 | Callum Ilott | Van Amersfoort Racing | 18.391 |
Ret | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | |
Ret | Ukyo Sasahara | T-Sport | |
Ret | David Beckmann | Mucke Motorsport | |
Ret | Pedro Piquet | Van Amersfoort Racing |
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