FIA Formula 3 rookie Sami Meguetounif took his maiden victory after cooly managing his tyres at the iconic Imola circuit during Sunday’s Feature Race.
The Trident driver drove like an F3 veteran, controlling his pace and making moves when necessary to beat Saturday’s Sprint winner Oliver Goethe.
Meguetounif’s Trident team-mate Leonardo Fornaroli fought back to third after a mid-race engine misfire to streak fractionally ahead in the Drivers’ standings.
A chaotic Sprint saw Campos’ Goethe pick up the win after an opportune manoeuvre after a last-lap Virtual Safety Car and the Red Bull Junior set off from seventh on the grid in Sunday’s Feature.
Launching from pole was Trident’s Santiago Ramos, joined on the front row by Fornaroli with Meguetounif making it a Trident 1-2-3 on the grid.
The title picture ahead of lights out was tight, with Luke Browning, Fornaroli and Gabriele Mini tied on 37 points at the top after Saturday’s Sprint.
Fornaroli was best placed to move ahead thanks to his second-place spot on the gird with Mini lining up sixth and Browning ninth.
The three Tridents towed each other down to Tamburello at lights out and Ramos led the way ahead of team-mates, Fornaroli and Meguetounif as Browning made progress up to seventh.
From the outset, Meguetounif was under pressure from a pair of Red Bull Juniors, Arvin Lindblad and Goethe.
Goethe was eager to get moving up the field, nibbling at the rear of Lindblad as the field came around to start Lap 2 of 22.
Meanwhile, Ramos and Fornaroli were tightly packed as a leading pair stretching an advantage out front.
As DRS opened on Lap 3, Italian Fornaroli swept past his team-mate to take the lead as Browning utilised the aero device to do the same on Dino Beganovic to take sixth.
Goethe meanwhile, had made his way into the top three and set about chasing the two leaders, buoyed by his Sprint success on Saturday.
Browning’s ascent was temporarily halted when a move on Lindblad at Tamburello on Lap 4 didn’t come off, leaving him vulnerable to be repassed by Beganovic on the run to the Villeneuve chicane.
Five laps in and Goethe was showing to be the class of the field, drafting to the outside of Ramos using DRS before hustling around the outside of the Trident driver at Tamburello to take second.
A lap later Goethe found himself in the lead as Fornaroli shuffled down to fifth position with a temporary engine blip down the start/finish straight, undoing his hard work at the start of the race.
This meant polesitter Ramos was in a position to chase after Goethe from second and Meguetounif led a train of cars from third, followed closely by Lindblad, Fornaroli, Beganovic and Browning.
“Trust me, drive smooth,” was the call over Team Radio to Ramos on Lap 8 as he fought to stay within DRS range of Goethe at the front.
Seeking to recover from his engine misfire, Fornaroli made his way past Lindblad on Lap 10 at Tamburello to take P4 shortly ahead of half-race distance.
At this point, Goethe had stretched his lead over Ramos to 1.6s and the latter had found himself under DRS threat from his Trident team-mate Meguetounif.
It was clear Ramos hadn’t heeded his engineer’s advice to run smoothly and his tyres were cooked by Lap 12 after falling more than two seconds behind race leader Goethe and surrending second to Meguetounif.
The championship picture was continuing to look tight as the race progressed, with Fornaroli running in third, Browning moved up to just one place behind with a move on Beganovic on Lap 15.
Goethe’s claim for a double Imola win was under threat by Lap 17 as Meguetounif closed within DRS range of the race leader, having nursed his tyres well throughout the first 16 laps.
A lap later and DRS was enough to grant Meguetounif the lead into Tamburello with Fornaroli charging in third hoping to make it a Trident one-two.
With three laps to go Fornaroli had a look at Goethe into Tamburello, but the Campos driver was able to hold off his Trident rival, enabling Meguetounif to remain comfortably out in front.
A slight snap of oversteer coming out of Rivazza on Lap 20 made Fornaroli’s task to get second slightly harder with his tyres perhaps falling away from him.
As such, Browning in fourth was closing in on his championship rival, making it vital for Fornaroli to successfully put a move on Goethe as the field came around to start the final lap.
But the Italian wasn’t close enough coming into Tamburello and looked set to settle for third.
Meguetounif didn’t have to settle, however, and his successful tyre management granted him a well-earned victory.
Goethe finished off a positive Imola weekend in second with Fornaroli completing the podium.
Browning’s ninth to fourth run was another standout performance in the race and Beganovic put in an accomplished drive to complete the top five.
Mini finished in sixth ahead of Lindblad and Ramos, who fell down the order after overworking his tyres.
Mari Boya and Sebastian Montoya rounded out the top-10.
Fornaroli now leads the championship on 52 points, ahead of Browning on 49 points and Beganovic on 45 points.
