– Swede battles to double points finishes in Spain
– Makes up a total 11 positions after troubled qualifying showing
Dino Beganovic is moving on from a challenging FIA Formula 3 weekend in Barcelona, where he left largely disappointed despite battling his way back into the points in both races.
Beganovic’s weekend was tarnished by a difficult qualifying session, where inconsistent car balance left the Swede half a second off the pace – enough to see him line up an uncharacteristic 14th and 13th respectively for the weekend’s two races amid the fierce competition of current F3.
While he managed to fight back into the points in both races, taking P8 in both Saturday’s sprint and Sunday’s feature event after notably strong opening laps, the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy youngster left Barcelona admittedly having hoped for more.
“It’s been a tough weekend, no doubting that, but we hung in there and didn’t give up, picking up some points that could prove crucial for the bigger picture,” says Dino Beganovic. “I’m not happy with the feeling in the car at the moment and the way the balance shifts. I’m never going to be thrilled with P8, but we did move forward in both races despite our issues and I think that proves a point in itself.”
There will be plenty of opportunity for immediate retaliation, too, as the FIA Formula 3 Championship continues apace over the coming month in the most intense part of the season. The field is back on track already next weekend (June 28-30) at Spielberg, Austria.
“After a weekend like this, you immediately start looking towards the next race and how to do a better job there,” Dino Beganovic concludes. “Thankfully, that race is just a few days from now. The good thing is we tried something for the feature race today that seemed to be a step in the right direction. We have a good idea now of what we think the issue is, and that makes me confident we can bounce back in Spielberg. I’m already fully focussed on that.”
At exactly halfway through the season, Dino Beganovic now sits fifth in the FIA F3 standings.
RESULTS
FIA Formula 3 Championship
Rd. 5 – Barcelona (ESP)
|| Race 1 (full results)
1: M. Boya (ESP), Campos Racing
2: A. Dunne (IRE), MP Motorsport
3: O. Goethe (GER), Campos Racing
—
8: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing
|| Race 2 (full results)
1: A. Lindblad (GBR), PREMA Racing
2: C. Mansell (AUS), ART Grand Prix
3: L. Fornaroli (ITA), Trident
—
8: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 3 Championship
After 5/10 rounds (full standings)
1: L. Fornaroli (ITA), Trident, 84 p.
2: L. Browning (GBR), Hitech Pulse-Eight, 79 p.
3: G. Minì (ITA), PREMA Racing, 72 p.
4: A. Lindblad (GBR), PREMA Racing, 71 p.
5: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing, 65 p.
