The first ever Australian sprint race saw three new drivers to the podium, as PREMA man Zak O’Sullivan was handed the victory ahead of Sebastian Montoya and teammate Paul Aron. MP Motorsport driver Franco Colpinto crossed the line first, but all three MP cars were disqualified from the race for technical infringements discovered in post-race inspections.
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From Lights Out To Chequered Flag For The Australian Sprint
Reverse poleman Seb Montoya led the field away and retained his lead as Luke Browning made contact with Oliver Goethe on the run to turn three. Goethe picked up a puncture and went sailing into the gravel trap, locking up dramatically and beaching his car.
Colapinto snatched third place from the VAR of Caio Collet into the high speed turn 9 and 10 chicane as he set his sights on those further ahead. The safety car was deployed at the end of lap 1 to recover the stricken car of Goethe and the field settled into position.
When the safety car peeled into the pits, Montoya made his getaway at turn 13 to try and get away from a fast charging Luke Browning behind. The teammates fought over top spot but Browning looked to the inside of turn 9 and bounced over the kerbs, he had all four wheels in the air and landed with a harsh impact that sent him tumbling back to 5th. Colapinto was promoted to 2nd behind the Hitech of Montoya.
After losing the place to Colapinto at the start, Collet was left scrapping with PREMA teammates O’Sullivan and Aron. He picked up a puncture and found himself in the gravel trap at turn 10, managing to keep it running and rejoin the field.
It was all action at turns 9 and 10, as Colapinto made his move on Red Bull junior Montoya on lap 6 just before the safety car was deployed for a second time. This time it was for the Rodin Carlin of Ido Cohen, he made contact with Hugh Barter and a heavy hit with the wall at the chicane ended his race. Cohen was penalised for the incident and will drop 5 places on the grid for the feature race. The field closed up once again and had a few laps to breathe.
The race resumed on lap 11 with Colapinto out front. Dino Beganovic picked off Gabriele Mini and Luke Browning, putting his PREMA into P5. Browning dropped out of the points and was handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.
The safety car came out for the third time in the Australian sprint race only 2 laps later as Aussie Tommy Smith hit the wall in the final turn and damaged his car. Only 4 laps were spent under the safety car and racing resumed on lap 17. Leading man Franco Colapinto learnt from the previous restarts and managed to pick his moment perfectly, the MP driver took the fastest lap and built a 2-second gap to those behind in a single lap.
Further back, the fight for the last podium places (and the eventual win) was between Montoya and O’Sullivan, the two trading places and pushing each other to the limit. The other two PREMAs of Aron and Beganovic jostled for position just behind, with Beganovic being forced over the kerb and into the runoff area of turns three and four in the penultimate lap. Mini took advantage of the battling, making his move on Beganovic just as yet another safety car came out.
The Jenzer of Alejandro Garcia hit the wall at turn 11, bringing with it the 4th safety car of the 20-lap sprint race. Due to the incident being so late in the session, this meant that the order would finish under the safety car with the positions as they were.
Franco Colapinto crossed the line in 1st, ahead of O’Sullivan and Montoya to complete the podium. Paul Aron was fourth ahead of Mini and Beganovic. Championship leader Bortoleto led his teammate Leonardo Fornaroli, Mari Boya and Gregoire Saucy to round out the top 10.
Heartbreak For Franco Colapinto
The Argentine driver, part of the Williams Driver Academy, soared to victory for the Australian sprint race. However, he will lose the win and is disqualified from the session due to technical infringements.
Pieces of bodywork were found to be outside of the regulatory limits (Articles 1.3 and 2.5 of the Technical Regulations). Any modifications to the specific parts are banned and carry hefty penalties if found to be tampered with.
The other two MP Motorsport drivers, Jonny Edgar and Mari Boya have also been disqualified in the Australian sprint race for the same infringement. The penalty promoted O’Sullivan to the win and gave Paul Aron his first podium in the series. Further down the field, Saucy moved to P9 and Christian Mansell to P10.
How The Championship Looks
Trident driver Gabriel Bortoleto retains the championship lead on 31 points ahead of Dino Beganovic with 28. Bortoleto will lead the field away for the feature race, hoping to secure big points to aid his title dreams. Beganovic qualified P8 for the feature and needs to keep his nose clean and move through to field if he wants to challenge the championship leader in Melbourne this weekend.
Image Courtesy of: Williams F1
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