F3 Imola: Meguetounif charges to maiden win, Fornaroli new points leader

The Frenchman had started the F3 feature race third, behind his Trident team-mates Leonardo Fornaroli and polesitter Santiago Ramos.

After initially dropping out of the podium positions when sprint race winner Oliver Goethe made his way from seventh to first in a handful of laps, Meguetounif maintained his composure and slowly chipped away at those in front.

His progress was helped by a Fornaroli error that saw the Italian drop to fifth, but the real rewards came through patience, with the race-winning move made on lap 18 of 22 as he swept past Goethe on the run to Tamburello.

The result means that continues the trend of there being no repeat winners this season, with Luke Browning, Arvid Lindblad, Martinius Stenshorne, Dino Beganovic and Goethe the previous five drivers to stand on the top step of the podium.

Compared to the sprint race which saw four safety car interventions and a virtual safety car period, the feature race was a far calmer affair, with only a brief yellow flag shown as Tommy Smith spun into the gravel early on.

Oliver Goethe, Campos Racing

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Goethe made the best start of anyone, immediately gaining three positions from his seventh-place grid slot while Gabriele Mini bogged down and lost six spots, finding himself in 12th.

While Goethe would ultimately finish second after holding off Fornaroli in the closing stages, Mini recovered to eventually come home in sixth.

Polesitter Ramos enjoyed a strong opening phase of the race but his pace tailed off at the halfway point and he eventually took the flag in eighth for his third points finish of the campaign.

The drivers’ standings had a three-way tie at the top heading into the feature race with Browning ahead by virtue of his race win and two fourth places. But the Briton now finds himself in second, with winless Fornaroli now holding a three-point advantage after claiming his third podium for the year.

Beganovic was the third driver and remains third in the standings, although now seven points off Fornaroli after finishing fifth. He is level on points with Mini, who is one of only two drivers to have scored in every race – the other being Goethe.

F3 Imola - Feature race results

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Bonus
1	S. Meguetounif Trident	5		22	-				25
2	O. Goethe Campos Racing	10		22	+2.700 2.7	2.700			18		1
3	L. Fornaroli Trident	4		22	+3.300 3.3	0.600			15
4	L. Browning Hitech Pulse-Eight	14		22	+3.600 3.6	0.300			12
5	D. Beganovic Prema Powerteam	1		22	+5.700 5.7	2.100			10
6	G. Minì Prema Powerteam	2		22	+6.900 6.9	1.200			8
7	A. Lindblad Prema Powerteam	3		22	+11.500 11.5	4.600			6
8	S. Ramos Trident	6		22	+12.700 12.7	1.200			4		2
9	M. Boya Campos Racing	12		22	+13.000 13.0	0.300			2
10	S. Montoya Campos Racing	11		22	+14.700 14.7	1.700			1
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