SPRINT RACE: Wharton impresses to take victory in Barcelona

James Wharton claimed victory of Saturday’s Barcelona Sprint Race, holding off Freddie Slater to come out on top for PREMA Racing.

Starting in second, the Australian driver took the lead early on and managed two Safety Car restarts before going on to win. Slater followed him across the line in P2 for TRIDENT with DAMS Lucas Oil’s Gerrard Xie in third.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was a great start for polesitter Xie, who kept Wharton at bay on the run down to Turn 1. The DAMS driver’s defence put the Australian on the back foot, allowing Slater to make a move for P2.

The TRIDENT rookie and Wharton went side-by-side through the Turns 2 and 4 before Slater took the inside line at the exit of Turn 5 to move up a place.

On Lap 3, Wharton retook the position, diving to the inside of Slater at Turn 1.

In fifth and sixth were the Van Amersfoort Racing cars of Enzo Deligny and Bruno del Pino, with the former coming on the radio to call on he and his teammate to work together.

Wharton was showing strong pace and having closed in on Xie, took the lead with another move to the inside at Turn 1.

Further behind them, Ernesto Rivera’s day came to an end. The Campos Racing driver slowed with an issue on the racing line, forcing Brando Badoer to take avoiding action. However, the two still made slight contact allowing Ugo Ugochukwu to take P7 from the Italian.

Rivera pulled over to the side of the road by the end of the next lap, but just as he did that, Slater overtook Xie for P2. A timely move from the TRIDENT driver with the Virtual Safety Car, which later turned to a full Safety Car, signalled at the start of Lap 8.

Racing resumed on Lap 11 with Wharton defending from Slater throughout the first sector. In the battle for P9, Badoer looked to be struggling with damage and lost out to Théophile Nael.

It was proving to be a tough day for Campos, with Ugochukwu going side-by-side with Deligny through Turns 2 and 3 but spinning into the gravel having run off the racing line, bringing out the Safety Car.

Wharton led the field away again on Lap 17, with Xie defending from Tuukka Taponen on the run to Turn 1.

The PREMA driver then set the fastest lap to pull out a one second lead on Slater, while Noah Stromsted went around the outside of Alessandro Giusti at Turn 12 to take P11.

On the penultimate lap, Wharton was out of DRS range to Slater, as Xie and Taponen started to pile on the pressure.

The Briton defended his position into Turn 1 on the final lap from Xie, allowing Taponen to close in with he and the DAMS driver going side-by-side through Turns 2 and 3. However Xie retained P2.

Back at the front, Wharton achieved his second Formula 3 victory, with Slater holding on for second ahead of Xie.

Taponen settled for fourth ahead of the VAR trio of Deligny, Del Pino and Yamakoshi, with Nael in eighth. Louis Sharp was ninth for PREMA, as Stromsted rounded out the points in P10.

KEY QUOTE – James Wharton, PREMA Racing

“I feel incredible. It’s been a hard season so far, and I feel like this was needed for me and for the team as well. The team has needed this boost of confidence, and I feel like we are doing the job we just have not had the results to show it. To do something like this with someone so fast behind me like Freddie is very good for us and it shows us we are working well. But at the same time after Lap 1 I didn’t think I’d be sitting here, so to be winning after going back at the start shows my maturity level from last year and I am happy with how it went. I could not be more happy.”

CHAMPIONHIP STANDINGS

Ugo Ugochukwu retains the lead of the Drivers’ Championship but is now tied on 43 points with Freddie Slater. Bruno del Pino is third with 40 points, ahead of Brando Badoer in fourth on 28, as Théophile Nael rounds out the top five on 25.

In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing continue to lead the way with 78 points, ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing on 62. TRIDENT are third with 53 points, with Rodin Motorsport fourth with 44. ART Grand Prix round out the top five with 31 points.

UP NEXT

The Barcelona Feature Race next up on the agenda with lights out scheduled for 08:40 local time on Sunday morning.