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

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. 

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.

Tim Tramnitz, MP Motorsport (Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool)

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 what became 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
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Bonus
1
T. Tramnitz MP Motorsport
7 17

33'52.339

  173.897   10    
2 Colombia S. Montoya Campos Racing 11 17

+0.779

33'53.118

0.779 173.831   9    
3
S. Ramos Trident
6 17

+0.911

33'53.250

0.132 173.819   8    
4
A. Dunne MP Motorsport
9 17

+1.375

33'53.714

0.464 173.780   7    
5
D. Beganovic Prema Powerteam
1 17

+1.937

33'54.276

0.562 173.732   6    
6
S. Meguetounif Trident
5 17

+4.050

33'56.389

2.113 173.551   5    
7
L. Browning Hitech Pulse-Eight
14 17

+4.126

33'56.465

0.076 173.545   4    
8
M. Boya Campos Racing
12 17

+4.360

33'56.699

0.234 173.525   3    
9
L. Fornaroli Trident
4 17

+4.843

33'57.182

0.483 173.484   2   1
10
G. Minì Prema Powerteam
2 17

+5.108

33'57.447

0.265 173.461   1    
11
M. Stenshorne Hitech Pulse-Eight
15 17

+5.593

33'57.932

0.485 173.420        
12
A. Lindblad Prema Powerteam
3 17

+5.927

33'58.266

0.334 173.392        
13
L. Van ART Grand Prix
24 17

+6.595

33'58.934

0.668 173.335        
14
M. Zagazeta Jenzer Motorsport
19 17

+6.773

33'59.112

0.178 173.320        
15
J. Loake Rodin Motorsport
31 17

+6.812

33'59.151

0.039 173.316        
16 Germany S. Flörsch Van Amersfoort Racing 21 17

+6.852

33'59.191

0.040 173.313        
17
N. Strømsted Campos Racing
10 17

+6.995

33'59.334

0.143 173.301        
18
C. Shields Hitech Pulse-Eight
16 17

+7.389

33'59.728

0.394 173.267 1      
19
T. Inthraphuvasak PHM AIX Racing
26 17

+7.500

33'59.839

0.111 173.258        
20
K. Sztuka MP Motorsport
8 17

+8.668

34'01.007

1.168 173.159        
21
N. Tsolov ART Grand Prix
25 17

+11.030

34'03.369

2.362 172.959        
22
C. Mansell ART Grand Prix
23 17

+13.075

34'05.414

2.045 172.786 1      
23
T. Smith Van Amersfoort Racing
22 17

+18.511

34'10.850

5.436 172.328        
24
C. Wurz Jenzer Motorsport
17 16

+1 Lap

32'15.674

1 Lap 171.808        
25
C. Voisin Rodin Motorsport
29 16

+1 Lap

34'01.197

1'45.523 162.926 1      
dnf
J. Dufek PHM AIX Racing
28 13

+4 Laps

25'26.743

3 Laps   1   Retirement  
dnf
M. Esterson Jenzer Motorsport
18 12

+5 Laps

23'06.654

1 Lap       Accident  
dnf
P. Wiśnicki Rodin Motorsport
30 12

+5 Laps

23'06.938

0.284       Accident  
dnf
N. Bedrin PHM AIX Racing
27 1

+16 Laps

1'51.996

11 Laps       Accident  
dnf
N. León Van Amersfoort Racing
20 1

+16 Laps

1'52.120

0.124       Accident  
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