F3 Spanish Grand Prix: Victor Martins commands feature race win
22nd May 2022ART’s Victor Martins put in a commanding performance, in the Formula 3 Spanish feature race, as he secured the race lead into turn one at the start.
How the race unfolded…
It was a decent start from the pole sitter, Trident’s Roman Stanek as he covered off the advance of ART’s Victor Martins. However, by the first corner, Martins returned to the optimal racing line and swung his car into turn one ahead of Stanek to snatch the lead.
It was fairly well behaved until Reece Ushijima tried to climb the order. As the British driver raced escaped turn 12, he found himself skipping through the gravel trap. Fortunately, Ushijima was able to return to the track but he lost a handful of positions as a result.
On lap four, Van Amserfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez found himself in the barrier at turn 12. The safety car was soon deployed as a result. It was found Villagomez made contact with MP Motorsport’s Kush Maini which bounced the Mexican off the track. The VAR driver then skidded across the gravel trap and nose-dived into the barrier – damaging his front suspension in the process.
The incident between Villagomez and Maini was soon put under investigation by race control, for allegedly causing a collision. Maini was later issued with a 10-second time penalty.
On lap eight, the race went back under green flag conditions as the safety car peeled its way back into the pit lane. Martins’ bolted into the final chicane and remained clearly ahead of the pack, despite Stanek’s best efforts.
However, the safety car was soon redeployed on lap 11 as Carlin’s Brad Beavides was found to be in the wall at turn two. The young Carlin driver reported the car wouldn’t turn.
The safety car peeled back into the pit lane, once again, at the end of lap 14. On the exit of turn 12, the race leader, Martins bolted back up to racing speed and established a gap to Stanek as he raced down the main straight. However, further back down the order, Prema’s Arthur Leclerc suffered a snap of oversteer in the middle of turn one.
As the Monegasque regained control of the car, he slid onto the run-off area, he made contact with the Campos of David Vidales and joined Leclerc onto the run off. Vidales was soon forced to retire from the race while Leclerc was slapped with a five-second time penalty for the causing the collision.
On lap 20, Juan Manuel Correa noted by the race stewards for forcing Leclerc off the track down the main straight. As the two drivers raced down the pit straight, Leclerc committed to the inside line but Correa covered this off. However, Correa failed to leave room for Leclerc who ended up on the grass verge. The incident was soon upgraded to an investigation, albeit after the race.
Hunter Yeany joined the short list of drivers who were issued with a time penalty. The Campos driver was slapped with a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with his teammate, Josep Marti, a few laps earlier which saw Marti bounce across the gravel on the exit of turn five.
Despite Stanek’s best efforts, Martins commanded the race from start to finish as he secured the race win and extended his championship lead.
Podium:
- Victor Martins, ART
- Roman Stanek, Trident
- Isaac Hadjar, Hitech
That’s it for the article: F3 Spanish Grand Prix: Victor Martins commands feature race win! What 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.
