– Swede nets important points as Australia debuts on FIA F3 calendar
– Ferrari Driver Academy racer retains third overall in championship standings
Dino Beganovic added important points to his early FIA Formula 3 Championship score with a top five finish this weekend at Australia’s Albert Park.
Staging round two of the 2023 season, the picturesque Melbourne street track featured a pair of action-packed races as FIA F3 headed Down Under for the first time in series history.
On his own first trip to Australia, Beganovic ran well within the top ten throughout the weekend, a P5 finish in Saturday’s sprint race marking the highlight for the PREMA Racing rookie.
“I’m happy with the first race and P5, even though I could have been on the podium there with a little bit more luck,” says Dino Beganovic. “There was a lot going on with plenty of safety cars and restarts, so I really got to work on those procedures, and I felt I was always strong with that. I learned a lot there and in the end we managed to pick up a solid result.”
Beganovic then appeared on course for further points in Sunday’s feature race, despite losing several places when his car briefly went into safety mode following a hard kerb strike. Trying to make up another position on the final lap for P8, however, Beganovic unfortunately made contact with a rival driver and incurred a ten-second penalty, leaving him 13th in the final classification.
“It has been an eventful weekend here in Australia, with good general pace but some unfortunate situations out on track and also a few mistakes from my side,” Dino Beganovic sums up. “The second race was pretty tough, trying to recover after I ran wide and the car went into safety mode. It wasn’t the cleanest of races but that’s how it goes sometimes and overall it’s been a fantastic experience racing here in Melbourne.”
Beganovic – who retains third overall in the FIA F3 standings – now returns to Europe, with testing at Imola and Barcelona planned in the coming weeks.
“It will be good having the tests in Europe now,” Dino Beganovic concludes. “It will give us a chance to evaluate everything we’ve learned in these opening races, and try to improve for the coming rounds. We have had a strong start, holding third in the standings, but we want even more and I’m confident we have that potential.”
The next FIA Formula 3 Championship round will take place at Imola on May 19-21.
RESULTS
FIA Formula 3 Championship
Rd. 2 – Melbourne (AUS)
Race 1 (full results)
1: Z. O’Sullivan (GBR), PREMA Racing
2: S. Montoya (COL), Hitech Pulse-Eight
3: P. Aron (EST), PREMA Racing
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5: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing
Race 2 (full results)
1: G. Bortoleto (BRA), Trident
2: G. Saucy (SUI), ART Grand Prix
3: G. Minì (ITA), Hitech Pulse-Eight
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13: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 3 Championship
After 2/10 rounds (full standings)
1: G. Bortoleto (BRA), Trident, 58 p.
2: G. Saucy (SUI), ART Grand Prix, 38 p.
3: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing, 28 p.
4: G. Minì (ITA), Hitech Pulse-Eight, 28 p.
5: J. Martí (ESP), Trident, 25 p.
