F3 Austria: Aron scores maiden win from eighth in sprint race

The Prema Racing driver, who was on provisional pole on Friday before his lap was deleted for exceeding track limits, had entered Saturday frustrated but confident after a tricky qualifying.

He started eighth for the reverse grid sprint race, but a strong start saw him jump into third on lap one.

The Estonian driver clung onto leader Pepe Marti (Campos Racing) and second-placed Kaylen Frederick before passing the ART driver on lap eight.

The safety car was deployed three laps later, closing the gap to Marti, and he was able to swoop into the lead amid a three-way fight with Marti and Gabriele Mini (Hitech) two laps from the end of the race.

Mercedes junior Aron then missed the pitlane entry at the end of the race, and was pushed back into the pits to take the podium.

Mini, who won the feature race in Monaco, finished second, with Caio Collet in third for Van Amersfoort Racing after Marti dropped several places in the closing stages.

Wet conditions saw the field complete two formation laps behind the safety car, but a standing start followed as it was deemed safe enough.

Oliver Goethe (Trident) stalled on the grid, dropping positions, but Marti was able to get the jump off the line to lead into Turn 1 from Frederick, who started third, ahead of Mini.

Collet and Mini briefly made contact at Turn 3, with the Italian Alpine Academy member emerging ahead, while Sunday polesitter Gregoire Saucy (ART) dropped down the order.

Marti then built a solid gap to Frederick, with a three-second lead by lap five while Aron ran third.

Aron passed Frederick for second at Turn 4 on lap eight before setting about closing on Marti as Mini closed in on third, taking the position the following tour at Turn 6.

The safety car was deployed on lap 11, with Oliver Gray (Rodin Carlin) and VAR’s Rafael Villagomez coming together at Turn 4, ending both drivers’ races.

Racing resumed on lap 14, with Aron hot on Marti’s gear box, and by lap 18 the battle for the win had become three-way as Mini closed in on the leading duo.

But it was Aron who emerged in front as they entered Turn 3 together, with Mini second and Marti third.

Collet then made it past Marti for third, before Zak O’Sullivan (Prema) and MP Motorsport’s Jonny Edgar also made it through, leaving Marti to finish sixth.

Frederick crossed the line seventh, with Dino Beganovic (Prema) in eighth, Sebastian Montoya in ninth for Hitech and championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto (Trident) rounding off the top 10.

F3 Austria - Sprint race results:

Cla	#	Driver	Team	Gap
1	1	Paul Aron	Prema Powerteam
2	15	Gabriele Minì	Hitech Pulse-Eight	1.400
3	17	Caio Collet	Van Amersfoort Racing	4.900
4	3	Zak O'Sullivan	Prema Powerteam	5.400
5	12	Jonny Edgar	MP Motorsport	6.300
6	23	Pepe Martí	Campos Racing	7.600
7	7	Kaylen Frederick	ART Grand Prix	8.300
8	2	Dino Beganovic	Prema Powerteam	8.400
9	14	Sebastian Montoya	Hitech Pulse-Eight	9.600
10	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Trident	10.100
11	16	Luke Browning	Hitech Pulse-Eight	10.900
12	11	Mari Boya	MP Motorsport	11.300
13	10	Franco Colapinto	MP Motorsport	12.300
14	24	Christian Mansell	Campos Racing	14.300
15	4	Leonardo Fornaroli	Trident	15.100
16	9	Nikola Tsolov	ART Grand Prix	16.000
17	26	Nikita Bedrin	Jenzer Motorsport	16.800
18	22	Ido Cohen	Rodin Carlin	17.600
19	29	Sophia Flörsch	PHM Racing by Charouz	18.200
20	21	Hunter Yeany	Rodin Carlin	18.500
21	8	Gregoire Saucy	ART Grand Prix	19.400
22	19	Tommy Smith	Van Amersfoort Racing	20.100
23	25	Hugh Barter	Campos Racing	21.700
24	31	McKenzy Cresswell	PHM Racing by Charouz	22.700
25	30	Roberto Faria	PHM Racing by Charouz	25.200
26	6	Oliver Goethe	Trident	1'28.600
27	27	Taylor Barnard	Jenzer Motorsport
28	20	Oliver Gray	Rodin Carlin
29	18	Rafael Villagomez	Van Amersfoort Racing
30	28	Alex Garcia	Jenzer Motorsport
View full results