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Victor Martins jumped onto the top step of the podium for the first time as the Frenchman’s overtaking masterclass saw him move into third place in the drivers’ standings.
Clement Novalak, who took an early lead from the start but lost it after the speedy Martins overtook him, finished second with Frederik Vesti rounded off the rostrum as the Dane came home in third.
Championship protagonists, Dennis Hauger and Jack Doohan, failed to score points after the former sustained a puncture and the latter made a mistake in the dying embers of the race.
Starting Grid
Ido Cohen starts from pole position alongside Trident’s Clement Novalak after the Frenchman lost positions in the latter stages of the race which saw him finish race one in 11th.
Behind the leading duo, Oli Caldwell lines up on the second row with Frederik Vesti alongside him. Victor Martins starts from fifth, Dennis Hauger in sixth, Jack Doohan in seventh, Caio Collet in eighth, Jak Crawford in ninth, Ayumu Iwasa in 10th, Logan Sargeant in 11th and race one winner Arthur Leclerc starts from 12th on the grid.
As It Happened
Novalak got a brilliant launch off the line as the Frenchman moved into the lead of the race into turn one. Behind him, Vesti improved to third after passing Caldwell at the start.
The two Prema’s of Caldwell and Hauger battled for fifth place, but the championship-leading Norweigan backed out of the move and stayed behind his teammate. Lorenzo Colombo collided with the barrier after sustaining a puncture which saw the Italian retire and brought out the Safety Car.
On lap six, leader Novalak led the drivers over the start/finish line as they return to green flag racing. Vesti and Cohen fought for second but the Dane lost out and was overtaken by Martins who crept into the podium places. Iwasa also lost out as the Hitech driver fell down the order after finding the gravel on the exit of turn one.
Doohan looked to make the move on Crawford for ninth place, however, the Aussie was not able to make the move on lap eight but made the overtake on lap 10 to claim the position. Hitech’s Iwasa pulled into the pits at the end of that lap as he retired from the race.
At the halfway point of the race, Novalak was in the lead ahead of Cohen in second and Martins in third. Vesti followed in fourth, Caldwell in fifth, Hauger in sixth, Collet in seventh, Doohan in eighth, Sargeant in ninth and Crawford in 10th.
Martins got the overtake done on Cohen as he moved into second and looked to chase down his compatriot and leader Novalak. A lap later, Vesti made an identical move to Martins with the Dane moving into third ahead of Cohen.
On lap 16, the speedy Martins took the lead of the race with another overtake at turn one. Hauger turned sixth into fifth as he finally made it past his Prema teammate Caldwell. The championship leader was up to fourth a lap later as he overtook Cohen.
The Safety Car was released once more as Amaury Cordeel beached his car in the gravel at turn one and subsequently retired from the race.
From the restart, Martins led the drivers over the line as Hauger and Cohen squabbled for position. The two collided with each other and dropped out of the points.
David Schumacher moved up to fifth after a fantastic move around the outside of Caldwell, but luck was not on the side of his Trident teammate Doohan as he made a mistake and dropped out of the points.
In the end, it was Martins who crossed the line to claim his first-ever F3 victory ahead of Novalak in second and Vesti in third. Collet finished fourth ahead of Schumacher, Caldwell, Leclerc, Crawford, Matteo Nannini and Sargeant who completed the top 10 finishers.
What’s Next?
Championship leader Dennis Hauger starts tomorrow’s race three from pole position as he looks to score points after a frustrating race two.
The Norweigan’s championship rivals, Jack Doohan and Victor Martins, line up alongside each other on the second row as they look to pile the pressure on the Prema driver ahead of the final round of the season.
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