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Megan White

F3 Barcelona: Marti dominates for home win

The Campos Racing driver led from the off, and despite a brief challenge from second-place starter Taylor Barnard at Turn 1, was largely unbothered from there.

The safety car was deployed on lap three after Luke Browning's Hitech-run car came to a stop on track, but Marti got the jump on the restart to maintain the lead.

MP Motorsport's Franco Colapinto passed Jenzer driver Barnard for second on lap 11 with the help of DRS, with Dino Beganovic repeating the move the following tour to take the final podium spot for Prema.

The win marks Marti's second in as many weekends, this time at both his and his team's home event, and was greeted at the podium by compatriot Fernando Alonso, whose A14 Management Marti belongs to.

He got the jump off Barnard at the line, and though the Jenzer driver made a challenge at Turn 1, he ran wide and was forced to drive around the bollard as he rejoined, with Marti holding the lead.

Browning and Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident) tussled at Turn 4 as Saturday's second-place finisher hoped to make up positions, but the pair ran wide onto the gravel.

Browning rejoined but was forced to stop with a broken suspension, prompting a yellow flag in sector two, with Fornaroli also managing to carry on.

The safety car was deployed as a result, pausing the action for three laps before racing resumed on lap six, with Marti leading the pack off early.

Barnard had looked to close on the leader by lap nine with DRS, but he then began to struggle.

The yellow flags were waved again the following lap as Hunter Yeany and Rafael Villagomez came together at Turn 2, the Rodin Carlin driver forced wide before bouncing across the kerbs and making contact with his VAR rival.

Yeany got going again but headed back to the pits to retire, avoiding another safety car.

Colapinto took second on lap 11 on the start-finish straight, taking the position from Barnard with ease, before Beganovic did the same as Barnard struggled for pace.

Gabriele Mini, who was second in the standings ahead of the race, had made up seven places by lap 13, but then had a tussle with Christian Mansell at Turn 1, failing to go around the bollard and receiving a five-second penalty.

Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto (Trident) passed Barnard on lap 17, with Paul Aron following him through in his Prema-run car.

Mari Boya (MP) and Hitech's Sebastian Montoya also joined the fight the following tour, but Barnard was able to hold on to seventh as Boya took sixth and Montoya settled for eighth.

Gregoire Saucy, who was behind the pack, suffered a puncture as he attempted to pass Oliver Goethe for 12th, with the Trident driver's front wing clipping the rear left of the ART and ending his race. Goethe was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident.

By lap 21, Marti was two seconds ahead of Colapinto, with a further 6.5s back to Beganovic, and that gap only grew, with Marti crossing the line 4.4s ahead of the Williams junior.

Bortoleto finished fourth, with Aron and Boya in fifth and sixth. Montoya, O'Sullivan, Barnard and Goethe rounded off the top 10.

Cla Driver Team Gap
1 Pepe Martí Spain Campos Racing  
2 Argentina Franco Colapinto Netherlands MP Motorsport 4.400
3 Dino Beganovic Italy Prema Powerteam 10.400
4 Gabriel Bortoleto Italy Trident 13.400
5 Paul Aron Italy Prema Powerteam 14.100
6 Mari Boya Netherlands MP Motorsport 19.500
7 Colombia Sebastian Montoya Hitech Pulse-Eight 19.800
8 United Kingdom Zak O'Sullivan Italy Prema Powerteam 23.700
9 Taylor Barnard Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 25.000
10 Christian Mansell Spain Campos Racing 26.100
11 Nikita Bedrin Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 27.900
12 Brazil Caio Collet Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 28.300
13 Hugh Barter Spain Campos Racing 31.900
14 Gabriele Minì Hitech Pulse-Eight 32.300
15 United Kingdom Jonny Edgar Netherlands MP Motorsport 34.200
16 Oliver Goethe Italy Trident 35.800
17 United States Kaylen Frederick France ART Grand Prix 37.800
18 Oliver Gray Rodin Carlin 39.200
19 Nikola Tsolov France ART Grand Prix 39.700
20 Germany Sophia Flörsch PHM Racing by Charouz 40.300
21 Piotr Wiśnicki PHM Racing by Charouz 41.000
22 Alex Garcia Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 44.400
23 Tommy Smith Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 47.600
24 Roberto Faria PHM Racing by Charouz 52.300
25 Mexico Rafael Villagomez Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 58.000
26 Israel Ido Cohen Rodin Carlin 59.000
27 Switzerland Gregoire Saucy France ART Grand Prix  
  Leonardo Fornaroli Italy Trident  
  Hunter Yeany Rodin Carlin  
  Luke Browning Hitech Pulse-Eight  
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