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F3 Austria: Browning reclaims points lead with victory

Luke Browning converted pole position into his second Formula 3 win of the season to reclaim the points lead with a controlled drive in the Austrian feature race.

The Williams Academy driver, racing for Hitech, kept clear of the touring car-style battles raging behind him to win by 1.6s from Prema's Gabriele Mini.

Having made a solid start, Browning pulled clear of the field while third-placed starter Tim Tramnitz dropped like a stone having failed to launch his MP Motorsport entry.

This allowed the Prema trio of Arvid Lindblad, Mini and Dino Beganovic to position themselves line astern behind Browning, although Lindblad would soon drop back after the front-row starter was shovelled off the track by MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne on lap eight of 26.

Dunne was handed a time penalty for his trouble, and he was joined on the naughty step by Tramnitz, Mari Boya (Campos) and Callum Voisin (Rodin) who were also involved in on-track incidents.

But it was in the closing laps that an already exciting race reached a climax, with the battle for second taking centre stage.

At the end of lap 21, Beganovic demonstrated how hard he was having to push in order to keep pace with Browning, as he lost the rear and drifted through the final corner – a move that allowed the race leader a few extra tenths of breathing room.

With three laps to go, the battle intensified with Mini's attempted move on Beganovic costing him a place to ART Grand Prix's Christian Mansell, before the Alpine junior regained his position on the final step of the podium around the outside of Turn 6.

The battle continued on the penultimate lap, and this time Mini was successful in his attack on Beganovic, waiting to complete the move at Turn 4.

The positions changed once again on the final tour, when Beganovic moved back ahead at Turn 3 before ultimately losing second for one final time at Turn 6.

The late battling allowed Browning to score his first win since the Bahrain season-opener unchallenged, as Mini and Beganovic completed the podium order.

Mansell ended up fourth after starting 11th, the Australian describing events as “the best race of my life” over team radio.

Browning now heads the standings on 106 points from Mini, with Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident) dropping from first to third after finishing ninth and claiming only two points. Beganovic is 26 points off the lead, with only four weekends remaining.

F3 Austria Feature Race Results

   
1
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Bonus
1
L. Browning Hitech Pulse-Eight
14 26

-

           
2
G. Minì Prema Powerteam
2 26

+1.600

1.6

1.600          
3
D. Beganovic Prema Powerteam
1 26

+2.100

2.1

0.500          
4
C. Mansell ART Grand Prix
23 26

+2.500

2.5

0.400          
5
O. Goethe Campos Racing
10 26

+3.100

3.1

0.600          
6
N. Tsolov ART Grand Prix
25 26

+7.100

7.1

4.000          
7
A. Lindblad Prema Powerteam
3 26

+7.800

7.8

0.700          
8
L. Van ART Grand Prix
24 26

+9.900

9.9

2.100          
9
L. Fornaroli Trident
4 26

+10.200

10.2

0.300          
10
A. Dunne MP Motorsport
9 26

+13.400

13.4

3.200          
11 Germany S. Flörsch Van Amersfoort Racing 21 26

+13.800

13.8

0.400          
12
M. Stenshorne Hitech Pulse-Eight
15 26

+14.000

14.0

0.200          
13
S. Ramos Trident
6 26

+14.500

14.5

0.500          
14
M. Zagazeta Jenzer Motorsport
19 26

+17.900

17.9

3.400          
15
T. Tramnitz MP Motorsport
7 26

+18.300

18.3

0.400          
16
K. Sztuka MP Motorsport
8 26

+21.300

21.3

3.000          
17
M. Esterson Jenzer Motorsport
18 26

+22.200

22.2

0.900          
18
M. Boya Campos Racing
12 26

+23.900

23.9

1.700          
19
P. Wiśnicki Rodin Motorsport
30 26

+30.100

30.1

6.200          
20
S. Meguetounif Trident
5 26

+33.900

33.9

3.800          
21
C. Shields Hitech Pulse-Eight
16 26

+33.900

33.9

0.000          
22
T. Smith Van Amersfoort Racing
22 26

+41.800

41.8

7.900          
23
N. León Van Amersfoort Racing
20 26

+47.600

47.6

5.800          
24
J. Loake Rodin Motorsport
31 26

+1'00.600

1'00.6

13.000          
25
C. Voisin Rodin Motorsport
29 26

+1'16.600

1'16.6

16.000          
26
T. Inthraphuvasak PHM AIX Racing
26 26

+1'22.000

1'22.0

5.400          
27
C. Wurz Jenzer Motorsport
17 25

1 lap

           
dnf
N. Bedrin PHM AIX Racing
27 10

16 laps

        Retirement  
dnf
J. Dufek PHM AIX Racing
28 5

21 laps

        Retirement  
dnf Colombia S. Montoya Campos Racing 11 5

21 laps

        Retirement  
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