– Ferrari Driver Academy youngster leads feature race early on
– PREMA racer underpins pace with front row, fastest race lap in Austria
Dino Beganovic clung on to score an important pair of points finishes at this weekend’s FIA Formula 3 Championship round in Austria, having initially led Sunday’s feature race after starting on the front row.
Beganovic was on strong form around the picturesque Spielberg circuit in round six of the 2023 season, coming agonisingly close to a maiden F3 pole position in Friday qualifying – where the PREMA Racing driver wound up an almost unmeasurable 0.004s shy of P1.
After improving from 11th to eighth to open his weekend points account in Saturday’s partially reversed-grid sprint race (which took place in the wet), Beganovic then duly lined up on the front row of the grid for Sunday’s main feature event.
In a strong opening phase of the race, the Ferrari Driver Academy member snatched an early lead and set about trying to break free from the pursuing pack – setting the fastest lap of the race in the process to secure himself an additional bonus point. As Beganovic’s tyres started to degrade, however, the Swede ultimately slipped back to fifth.
“We had a plan from the beginning, and that was trying to get the lead and then push hard to break out of DRS range,” says Dino Beganovic. “That’s what I tried to do, but even though I set the fastest lap it wasn’t quite enough, and instead I killed the tyres. They were degrading more than we thought. From there on it was a tough race and I slipped back to fifth. Not what we wanted, but we did learn a lesson about these soft tyres that will be useful in the future.
“All in all, however, it’s been another strong weekend. Four thousandths from pole in qualifying, we picked up a lot of good points, and we improved our position in the championship.”
Dino Beganovic is now up to second in the FIA Formula 3 Championship standings. The field will be back on track in just a week’s time, supporting the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
RESULTS
FIA Formula 3 Championship
Rd. 6 – Spielberg (AUT)
|| Race 1 (full results)
1: P. Aron (EST), PREMA Racing
2: G. Minì (ITA), Hitech Pulse-Eight
3: C. Collet (BRA), Van Amersfoort Racing
—
8: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing
|| Race 2 (full results)
1: Z. O’Sullivan (GBR), PREMA Racing
2: G. Bortoleto (BRA), Trident
3: C. Collet (BRA), Van Amersfoort Racing
—
5: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 3 Championship
After 6/10 rounds (full standings)
1: G. Bortoleto (BRA), Trident, 111 p.
2: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing, 75 p.
3: Z. O’Sullivan (GBR), PREMA Racing, 73 p.
4: J. Martí (ESP), Campos Racing, 73 p.
5: G. Minì (ITA), Hitech Pulse-Eight, 65 p.
