AIX Racing have secured their maiden win in Formula 3. Not only did Nikita Bedrin drive to victory in the F3 Sprint race at the 2024 Hungarian GP, but his teammate Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak secured P2. Inthraphuvasak becomes the first Thai driver to stand on an F3 podium, and AIX’s victory means ten teams have now won a race this season.
PREMA’s Dino Beganovic came home in P3, dropping two places from Pole. Notably, Luke Browning now finds moving up in the Championship, snatching the Championship P2 from Arvid Lindblad with a P8 Sprint finish.
There was chaos before the race even began. Joseph Loake found himself out of position as the cars lined the grid for Lights Out. The Brit tried to line up in a grid box on the wrong side of the track, triggering another formation lap. He would later receive a penalty for failing to start from the pits on the second formation lap, mistakenly returning to his initial grid position.
At Lights Out
Beganovic got a great launch off the line, successfully defending his lead from Bedrin and Inthraphuvasak. Bedrin, however, quickly launched a counterattack on Beganovic at Turn 2, taking the lead from the PREMA. Tim Tramnitz was round the outside of Christian Mansell in a bid to secure P5 and some vital Championship points.
Further back, Mattias Zagazeta picked up suspension damage in an incident with Mari Boya. While Boya was able to continue on, Zagazeta was stricken at the side of the track, triggering a Safety Car on Lap 2.
Meanwhile, Inthraphuvasak was noted for a technical infringement to be investigated after the race. It was not stated what the technical infringement was.
Safety Car Restart
Bedrin was quick off the line on the restart a lap later, keeping Beganovic at bay. Inthraphuvasak, however, was keeping within DRS of the PREMA.
Loake was straight into the pits to serve a ten-second stop-and-go penalty he picked up from his starting grid issues, adding to the misery for the Brit. There was also a miserable trip to the pits for Tsolov, who headed in for a new front wing after contact with Santiago Ramos. Tsolov was later dealt a ten-second penalty for causing a collision with the Trident.
By Lap 5, Beganovic was piling the pressure on Bedrin for P1. Voisin was stalking the second AIX of Inthraphuvasak, allowing Tramnitz to close in behind him. There was brief contact between Voisin and Inthraphuvasak in the brawl for the podium; luckily both got away unscathed.
Mansell On the Move
Christian Mansell lunged down the inside at Turn 1 to overtake Fornaroli on Lap 8. The Australian failed to make the move stick, but made it work moments later at Turn 2. Meanwhile, Luke browning was up from P15 to P9, adding to his provisional points haul for the day.
Beganovic, on a mission to get to the top of the podium, was down the inside of Bedrin on Lap 10. However, a messy move saw him catch the kerb, losing P2 to Inthraphuvasak. Voisin and Tramnitz were now embroiled in a battle for P4 and after briefly passing Tramitz, Voisin was instructed to give back P4 after gaining the position off the track.
Beganovic On the Hunt
On Lap 12, Mansell forced his way past Voisin, chasing a podium finish. Beganovic was back with a vengeance after dropping out of DRS of the AIX cars in front. He was back within 0.8s of the frontrunners within a lap, gunning to claim back the lead.
In the closing stages of the race, Mansell was down the inside of the car in front once again, this time trying to pick off Tramnitz. However, after going too deep into the corner, Tramnitz was able to retain P4. A couple of cars back, Browning was on the gearbox of Fornaroli, looking to pick up an extra couple of points.
First across the line at the chequered flag for the F3 Sprint race at the 2024 Hungarian GP was Bedrin, with Inthraphuvasak 1.5s behind and Beganovic completing the podium. Tramitz came home P4, Mansell P5 and Voisin P6. Fornaroli was able to hold onto P7, followed by Browning in P8. Van Hoepen and Meguetounif rounded out the top ten.
Photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency via AIX Racing
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