Hitech Pulse-Eight rookie driver Martinius Stenshorne claimed his maiden Formula 3 win after an intense fight with Prema’s Arvid Lindblad in the Australia Sprint Race.
Sprint polesitter Laurens Van Hoepen finished third to complete the podium amid an action-packed race with plenty of moves in the top 10 throughout the 20-lap affair.
Van Hoepen maintained the lead in the opening stages, followed closely by Stenshorne and team-mate Christian Mansell, who struggled after a lock-up into the first turn.
The lead changed multiple times between the top three drivers during the first five laps, but Mansell started to lose pace following contact and his hopes of a podium diluted.
With the top three occupied with each other, Lindblad capitalised on Mansell’s slowing pace to overtake both ART drivers before he then reeled in race leader Stenshorne.
As the Prema driver crept to within DRS distance of Stenshorne on Lap 13, Tommy Smith took Tasanapol Inthrapuvasak out and prompted the Safety Car’s intervention.
The Safety Car period allowed the whole field to regroup completely, paving the way for a frenetic end to the race as drivers sought to take advantage to gain vital places.
Upon the restart, Lindblad tried a move on Stenshorne but he wasn’t able to take the race lead, while simultaneously resisting pressure from Van Hoepen behind in third.
Hitech’s Stenshorne managed the lead gap perfectly to the chequered flag to take his first win in Formula 3 and another win for the team following Luke Browning’s victory at the Bahrain Feature Race During Round 1 of the Championship.
Championship leader Browning had a very tricky session, having to pit on Lap 5 following a technical issue.
He was later able to go back on track, but ended up last and a lap down to his team-mate as a result of the time lost.
Van Hoepen held the closing position on the podium despite being heavily pressured by Campos Racing driver Mari Boya, who came fourth and took the fastest lap contributing to a great result for his team, with teammates Oliver Goethe and Sebastián Montoya coming home in fifth and 10th respectively.
Mansell went from a podium fight to finishing outside the top 3 due to alleged issues with the rear of the car and tyre degradation.
Dino Beganovic managed to get some valuable points from tenth on the grid to a top-seven finish, while Nikita Bedrin and Montoya got their first points in the driver standings.
MP Motorsport driver Alex Dunne had a remarkable comeback from 17th on the grid to a top-10 finish, ending the race in ninth adding two points to his personal tally.
