WHAT WE LEARNED: The Main Takeaways from Round 2 of the season in Melbourne

The 2024 FIA Formula 3 campaign headed to Australia for the second round of the season as the drivers put on a show around the streets of Melbourne.

There were plenty of highlights to speak of as we saw a couple of first-time winners in F3, two entertaining races filled with plenty of on-track action and much more to leave us excited for Round 3 at Imola

Non-stop action Down Under: Melbourne Team-By-Team Review

But what else can we take away from Round 2 in Melbourne?

BEGANOVIC BOUNCES BACK IN STYLE

Dino Beganovic’s Sakhir weekend did not go to plan as while he scored two points for taking pole position, a couple of tough opening laps saw him drop down to the back of the field in both races.

This left the PREMA Racing #1 driver with plenty to prove heading to Melbourne and he did just that, taking a superb Feature Race victory and his first win in Formula 3.

After Qualifying third he showed strong pace and impressive tyre management skills across the 23-lap affair before navigating his way past teammate Gabriele Minì and Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli to take top honours.

It was the perfect way to bounce back after his opening round disappointment and it gives his Championship prospects the boost it needed heading into the European portion of the season.

FORNAROLI CONTINUES TO IMPRESS

It was another strong weekend to start the year from Fornaroli whose P2 in the Feature Race gave him his second trip to the podium in 2024.

The Trident driver put in a sublime late effort in Qualifying to pip Minì to pole position following a tight battle on Friday afternoon with his compatriot.

READ MORE: Leonardo Fornaroli’s Melbourne Weekend in his Words

After placing ninth in the Sprint Race, he started brilliantly in the Feature keeping a hold of the lead only to be passed by Beganovic late on.

Still, it was a drive to be proud of by Fornaroli, who is pairing his tremendous speed with greater consistency.

He leaves Melbourne tied at the top of the Drivers’ Standings on 37 points with Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning and if Fornaroli continues to perform at this level, a fight for the title could be on.

THE ROOKIES CATCH THE EYE

Albert Park is one of the toughest circuits on the calendar for the returning drivers, so with just 45 minutes of Practice time, the rookies had their work cut out adapting to their first street track of the year.

Yet there were a number of impressive performances from our rookies most notably from Martinius Stenshorne, who scored his first Formula 3 victory in the Sprint Race for Hitech Pulse-Eight.

Rosin: Beganovic did ‘nearly a perfect job’ as PREMA streak clear in Melbourne

He took the chequered flag ahead of two other rookies in PREMA’s Arvid Lindblad and ART Grands Prix Laurens van Hoepen, both of whom sealed their second Sprint Race podiums of the year.

Charlie Wurz was another rookie driver to impress in Melbourne as he went from P12 to fifth in the Feature Race. The Jenzer Motorsport racer was the only newcomer on the grid to score points on Sunday, managing his tyres superbly while pulling off a string of fine overtakes to make his way through the field.

Performances like these at a track they faced for the first time should certainly give them confidence heading to Europe, where things could get easier given that they will be racing at a few circuits they have encountered before in previous categories.

BEDRIN PUTS PHM AIX RACING ON THE BOARD

PHM AIX Racing would have come into the Melbourne weekend hopeful of achieving their first points of the year after going without scoring in Bahrain.

That goal was achieved by Nikita Bedrin, who put in one of the standout performances of the weekend which started when he qualified fourth.

HIGHLIGHTS: Beganovic earns maiden F3 win in Melbourne Feature Race

The Sprint Race did not go in his favour as he was classified down in P21, but his battling performance on Sunday saw him cross the line in a well-earned P8.

In a weekend where his rookie teammates endured difficulties as Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak crashed out in both races and Joshua Dufek ended up P22 in both the Sprint and the Feature, Bedrin’s result gives the team a huge boost heading into the Barcelona test.