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A big weekend in the Championship: Spa-Francorchamps Team-by-Team Roundup

31 July 2024

The penultimate round of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 season at Spa-Francorchamps was one to remember as we got our first title winner of the year.

PREMA Racing sealed their fifth F3 Teams Championship this weekend, while Leonardo Fornaroli took back the lead in the Drivers’ Standings.

On top of that, we got a first victory for both the driver and team in the Feature Race amongst many other storylines. So, let’s look at how Round 9 at Spa, went for each team.

PREMA RACING

A one-two finish with Beganovic and Minì helped PREMA secure the title

A one-two result led by Dino Beganovic and Gabriele Minì in the Sprint Race put PREMA on the cusp of the title heading into the Feature, with rivals ART Grand Prix scoring just one point.

Although both teams finished outside of the top 10 on Sunday, PREMA had done enough to take an unassailable lead to the final round in Monza.

However, that scoreless Feature came with its negatives, as Minì lost the Championship lead to Leonardo Fornaroli, and now trails his fellow Italian by one point heading to Monza.

It also was not the easiest weekend for Arvid Lindblad, who was left to fight his way through the field in both races after Qualifying in P27, with his Feature ending in the gravel after contact with Christian Mansell.

Overall, a solid weekend that sees them leave with the title.

ART GRAND PRIX

It was a difficult weekend for Mansell and his ART team

The French outfit came to Spa knowing that they had to go into the summer break with a deficit of less than 89 points to PREMA, to have a chance of winning the title.

However, they were on the back foot immediately, with debutant Tuukka Taponen, Laurens van Hoepen and Mansell all qualifying outside of the top 12.

RACE ANALYSIS: How Voisin perfected the restarts to claim victory at Spa

Van Hoepen managed to finished 10th in the Sprint, but all three ended up outside the top 10 in the Feature, with Taponen even crashing out early on. A difficult weekend for ART.

TRIDENT

Fornaroli took back the lead of the Drivers' Championship in Spa

It was a positive few days for Trident, who left with the lead in the Drivers’ Championship with Fornaroli and having closed to within nine points of ART for second place in the Teams’ Standings.

All three of their drivers qualified in the top 12 and the Sprint Race went well on track as they all finished in the top 10. However, track limit penalties knocked them down the order, although Fornaroli and Santiago Ramos stayed in the points, while Sami Meguetounif went to P27.

But they recovered well in the Feature, with Fornaroli in third, Meguetounif fifth and Ramos in eighth – the first time all three drivers have scored points in a race since the Imola Feature.

CAMPOS RACING

Montoya scored his second F3 podium this weekend at Spa

It was a mixed weekend for the Spanish squad as while Sebastián Montoya scored good points in the Sprint and finished second in the Feature Race, his teammates Mari Boya and Oliver Goethe had their struggles.

Track limits issues saw Boya finish in P28 in the Sprint, before he suffered a puncture after colliding with Charlie Wurz, that sent him into the barrier in the Feature.

Goethe did finish P6 in the Sprint, but an early collision with Minì on Sunday left him with a puncture, although he recovered well to finish P18.

HITECH PULSE-EIGHT

Browning scored some solid points in Spa and is now six points off the Championship lead in third

It was not the easiest round for Hitech, starting in Qualifying, where they chose a different strategy to the rest, with Luke Browning ending up seventh, while Martinius Stenshorne and Cian Shields were outside the top 20.

After Browning exceeded track limits one too many times, he dropped from P6 to P12 in the Sprint Race, with Stenshorne 18th and Shields 23rd.

FEATURE RACE: Voisin takes maiden F3 victory in busy Spa-Francorchamps affair

The Briton did manage to score some solid points in the 15-lap event on Sunday, finishing sixth, and leaving him six points behind Fornaroli heading to Monza. Stenshorne unfortunately crashed out early while Shields finished in P22.

MP MOTORSPORT

Alex Dunne qualified second in Spa for MP Motorsport

The Dutch outfit showed plenty of potential in Spa and would have been disappointed to miss out on a podium in both races.

Alexander Dunne qualified second but finished 10th in the Feature, while Tim Tramnitz lost P3 to Noel León on the penultimate lap of the Sprint and ended up ninth on Sunday.

As for Kacper Sztuka, he had his fastest lap time deleted in Qualifying leaving him in P30. He showed plenty of promise though, making his way to P20 in the Sprint and P18 in the Feature.

RODIN MOTORSPORT

Voisin claimed his and Rodin's first Formula 3 victory at Spa

What a weekend it proved to be for Rodin as a first Pole Position for Callum Voisin on Friday, led to a maiden victory for them and him on Sunday.

Voisin, who has been in sparkling form of late, was brilliant, taking pole by over a tenth in Qualifying, before expertly managing three restarts to win the Feature, after finishing seventh in the Sprint.

His teammates Joseph Loake and Piotr Wisnicki also showed good pace, the former ending up P11 in the Sprint before colliding with Sophia Floersch in the Feature and being classified in P25.

VAN AMERSFOORT RACING

León finished on the podium for the fourth time this season

León has been one of the form drivers in the second half of the season and he continued that in Spa, finishing third in the Sprint and fourth in the Feature.

Floersch was 19th in the Sprint but unfortunately collided with Loake in the Feature and ended up out of the race.

Standing out in the field: Sophia Floersch on her racing helmet design

Tommy Smith started and finished the Sprint Race in P25, but made gains on Sunday, crossing the line in P16. They are now tied with Rodin on 85 points and sit eighth in the Championship.

AIX RACING

Dufek (R) and Inthraphuvasak (L) finished in P13 and P14 in the Feature Race

After a great weekend in Budapest, it was a bit of a difficult one in Spa for AIX, leaving without any points to their name.

Nikita Bedrin was the lead driver in Qualifying, ending up in P16, while Joshua Dufek was in P24 and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak finished in P29.

There were signs of good pace though as Bedrin finished 13th in the Sprint, while Dufek and Inthraphuvasak fought through to an admirable P13 and P14, respectively, in the Feature.

JENZER MOTORSPORT

Esterson finished in a well-earned P7 in the Feature for Jenzer

It may not have been the easiest of weekends for Jenzer, but they left with a great result on Sunday after Max Esterson finished seventh in the Feature Race.

However, Charlie Wurz did not have the best of times in Spa, qualifying 28th, finishing 26th in the Sprint, before colliding with Boya in the Feature and ending up in P23.

Matías Zagazeta was a constant in the top 20, qualifying in P17 and finishing in the same position in both the Sprint and the Feature Race.