– Ferrari Driver Academy racer out of the points at Spa-Francorchamps
– FIA F3 grid battles tricky conditions in typical Ardennes weather
Dino Beganovic endured a weekend to forget at Spa-Francorchamps in the penultimate round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, as the F1-supporting field faced typically mixed conditions in the Belgian Ardennes.
On a weekend of repeated crossroads between wet and dry, Beganovic got off to a decent start with seventh place in a rain-affected qualifying session.
From there, however, the weekend derailed for the Swedish PREMA driver, who struggled for grip in the sprint race and also picked up a penalty for contact with a rival driver, leaving him down in 22nd in the final results.
In Sunday’s main event – the feature race – Beganovic then opted for the widely preferred strategy of slick tyres on a drying track, but that proved the wrong decision in a race ultimately dictated by cars on wet-weather Pirelli rubber.
As it was, Beganovic slipped to 16th by the chequered flag, leaving the Ferrari Driver Academy out of the points in Belgium.
“It’s been a tough weekend here at Spa,” Dino Beganovic agrees. “The pace looked promising in the dry, and in the wet in qualifying, but then the first race was especially disappointing. I put myself in the wrong positions and lost places, and then obviously the penalty didn’t help. It wasn’t a good drive from me.
“The feature race was slightly better in terms of actual performance, but we ended up on what proved to be the wrong tyre and just couldn’t keep up with the guys on wets. This certainly wasn’t what we hoped for, and it gives us some extra work to do during the break to try and understand what we were missing here.”
After an intense month of non-stop racing, the FIA Formula 3 Championship now enters a well-earned summer break leading up to the final round of the season at Monza (Italy) on September 1-3.Dino Beganovic leaves Spa-Francorchamps sitting sixth in the overall F3 standings.
RESULTS
FIA Formula 3 Championship
Rd. 9 – Spa-Francorchamps (BEL)
|| Race 1 (full results)
1: C. Collet (BRA), Van Amersfoort Racing
2: T. Barnard (GBR), Jenzer Motorsport
3: P. Aron (EST), PREMA Racing
—
22: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing
|| Race 2 (full results)
1: T. Barnard (GBR), Jenzer Motorsport
2: C. Mansell (AUS), Campos Racing
3: N. Bedrin (ITA), Jenzer Motorsport
—
16: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 3 Championship
After 9/10 rounds (full standings)
1: G. Bortoleto (BRA), Trident, 144 p.
2: P. Aron (EST), PREMA Racing, 106 p.
3: J. Martí (ESP), Campos Racing, 105 p.
4: Z. O’Sullivan (GBR), PREMA Racing, 101 p.
5: F. Colapinto (ARG), MP Motorsport, 100 p.
6: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing, 94 p.
