F3 Emilia-Romagna Sprint Race: Franco Colapinto wins after late drama
23rd April 2022Van Amersfoort Racing’s Franco Colapinto secured the sprint race win after MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet and Hitech’s Isack Hadjar made contact latter stages of the race.
How the race unfolded…
Colapinto lined up on reverse-grid pole, after the Argentinian driver qualified P12 in Friday’s qualifying session, ahead of Jenzer Motorsport’s Ido Cohen. It was a fantastic start from Colapinto while Cohen had a poor start who was quickly overtaken by MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet into the first corner chicane.
By the end of the lap, Colapinto remained out ahead of two MP drivers Collet and Kush Maini while Cohen who had fallen down the order before he stopped in P6, by the end of the second lap.
On lap four, the lead of the race had swapped hands as Collet overtook Colapinto – with assistance from the drag reduction system – down the main straight.
Despite Collet’s best efforts to break the gap, Colapinto remained within DRS range as he activated his rear wing down the pit straight. But, the Argentinian wasn’t close enough to make a move.
In an intense battle for third, between Maini and Hitech’s Isack Hadjar, the MP driver tried to hold onto his final podium position but as the two drivers fought into turn five, Hadjar managed to overtake the Indian driver to sit third.
On lap nine, Prema’s Arthur Leclerc squeeze his teammate, Oliver Bearman, out of road on the exit of Tosa (turn seven) which caused the British driver to spin around and return to the track slowly. Shortly after, Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan and Campos’ Josep María Martí were found in the gravel trap on the final corner. As a result, the Virtual Safety Car was brought out before it was upgraded to a full safety car.
Maini, during the safety car period, was given a drive-through penalty for being out of position in his grid box at the start of the race. At the end of lap 11, the safety car returned to the pit lane and Collet bolted and found himself unpressured into the first chicane.
VAR’s Reece Ushijima and Jenzer’s Federico Malvestiti found themselves in the wall, on lap 13, which caused the safety car to be deployed for a second stint. Ushijima made a move into the second phase of the Tamburello chicane and collected the rear-left tyre of Malvestiti. As a result, both cars ventured off the track and into the wall, on the exit of the chicane.
In Collet’s second safety car restart, on lap 17, the Brazilian driver was put under a brief amount of pressure by Colapinto. However, the VAR Argentinian driver had to defend his position from Hadjar. It wasn’t long before the race was neutralised once again, as Leclerc took out an advertising board and littered the track between turn six and seven with polystyrene.
As the track litter started to naturally clear away, across the gravel trap, the VSC was soon removed.
When the race entered its final lap, Colapinto made a move down the pit straight to regain the lead of the race – which he succeeded. However, Collet attempted to defend from Hadjar into the first chicane but the two drivers made contact, Collet was sent sliding across the gravel trap while Hadjar bounced across the gravel trap.
In the end, Colapinto secured the race win while ART’s Victor Martins and Prema’s Jak Crawford inherited second and third respectively.
That’s it for the article: F3 Emilia-Romagna Sprint Race: ! What an end, did you think of the race? Let us know in the comments!
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.