F3 Italy: Tramnitz scores maiden win as title fight rolls on to finale

Title battle goes to the wire as new race winner emerges at Monza

Tim Tramnitz became the 12th different F3 race winner this season, breaking his duck in the Monza sprint race, while the championship fight remains wide open heading into tomorrow's finale.

In the penultimate outing of the season, the MP Motorsport driver was a picture of composure, taking a lights-to-flag victory in a race that saw no changes for the lead, despite the extreme effect of the tow.

Tramnitz’s success was secured with a cool head on the two safety car restarts, where he was able to pull a clear margin over Sebastian Montoya (Campos) on both occasions. However, a post-race penalty for forcing Santiago Ramos (Trident) off the track resulted in a five-second penalty, dropping Montoya from second to 11th.

With a starting procedure infringement for Tramnitz being investigated after the race, there remains an asterisk over the race result.

Championship combatants Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident), Gabriele Mini (Prema) and Luke Browning (Hitech) were among the raft of grid penalties for qualifying infringements, but Tramnitz's position was unaffected as he lined up on the reversed grid pole.

Leading away from the grid, the Red Bull junior put up an on-the-limit defence on Montoya and Dino Beganovic (Prema) on the run to the Rettifilo chicane amid a cloud of smoke caused by locked brakes.

This dramatic-looking start set the tone for what was to come, although the battles all took place in the mirrors of a controlled Tramnitz.

But the action came to a quick halt, as the safety car was deployed at the end of lap two after Van Amersfoort Racing pair Noel Leon and Tommy Smith tangled with Nikita Bedrin (AIX Racing). For causing the incident, Smith received a 10-second penalty.

Racing resumed on lap six with the championship-leading trio still outside of the points, but points leader Fornaroli was a man on a mission. He made up four places on the restart, then thrust himself into the top 10 one lap later.

This journey reached a peak of seventh, but moments before entering a second safety car period on lap 13, he dropped behind Mari Boya (Campos) as his tyres began to cry enough.

This latest disruption was caused by a clumsy incident at the Rettifilo chicane between Max Esterson and Piotr Wisnicki.

Just as Fornaroli had progressed in the initial safety car restart, Browning strode forward on the second occasion, passing the Italian at the first chicane before overcoming Boya for sixth, following Montoya's penalty.

With one race remaining, Fornaroli has a three point lead from Mini, who took two points for finishing ninth, with Browning two further back.

Eventually taking a point following the post-race decisions, Arvid Lindblad (Prema) remains in with an outside shot of the title, but trails by 21 points.

Fornaroli will start the feature race from pole, with Mini third and Browning seeking to fight back from 13th.

F3 Italy Race 1 Results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Bonus
1	T. Tramnitz MP Motorsport	7	17	-
2	S. Montoya Campos Racing	11	17	+0.700 0.7	0.700
3	S. Ramos Trident	6	17	+0.900 0.9	0.200
4	A. Dunne MP Motorsport	9	17	+1.300 1.3	0.400
5	D. Beganovic Prema Powerteam	1	17	+1.900 1.9	0.600
6	S. Meguetounif Trident	5	17	+4.000 4.0	2.100
7	L. Browning Hitech Pulse-Eight	14	17	+4.100 4.1	0.100
8	M. Boya Campos Racing	12	17	+4.300 4.3	0.200
9	L. Fornaroli Trident	4	17	+4.800 4.8	0.500
10	G. Minì Prema Powerteam	2	17	+5.100 5.1	0.300
11	M. Stenshorne Hitech Pulse-Eight	15	17	+5.500 5.5	0.400
12	A. Lindblad Prema Powerteam	3	17	+5.900 5.9	0.400
13	L. Van ART Grand Prix	24	17	+6.500 6.5	0.600
14	M. Zagazeta Jenzer Motorsport	19	17	+6.700 6.7	0.200
15	J. Loake Rodin Motorsport	31	17	+6.800 6.8	0.100
16	S. Flörsch Van Amersfoort Racing	21	17	+6.800 6.8	0.000
17	N. Strømsted Campos Racing	10	17	+6.900 6.9	0.100
18	C. Shields Hitech Pulse-Eight	16	17	+7.300 7.3	0.400		1
19	T. Inthraphuvasak PHM AIX Racing	26	17	+7.500 7.5	0.200
20	K. Sztuka MP Motorsport	8	17	+8.600 8.6	1.100
21	N. Tsolov ART Grand Prix	25	17	+11.000 11.0	2.400
22	C. Mansell ART Grand Prix	23	17	+13.000 13.0	2.000		1
23	T. Smith Van Amersfoort Racing	22	17	+18.500 18.5	5.500
24	C. Wurz Jenzer Motorsport	17	16	1 lap
25	C. Voisin Rodin Motorsport	29	16	1 lap			1
dnf	J. Dufek PHM AIX Racing	28	13	4 laps			1		Retirement
dnf	M. Esterson Jenzer Motorsport	18	12	5 laps					Accident
dnf	P. Wiśnicki Rodin Motorsport	30	12	5 laps					Accident
dnf	N. Bedrin PHM AIX Racing	27	1	16 laps					Accident
dnf	N. León Van Amersfoort Racing	20	1	16 laps					Accident
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