F3 Austrian Sprint: Zak Crawford secures win ahead of Collet
9th July 2022Prema’s Jak Crawford managed to slip passed MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet to secure the Austrian Sprint Race win, after ART’s Juan Manuel Correa retired from the lead.
How the race unfolded…
The reverse-grid pole sitter, MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet, had a fantastic start and managed to cover off the charge of ART’s Juan Manuel Correa into turn one. The pack raced around turn in a fairly uniformed and well-behaved fashion.
However, that all changed as the pack reached the uphill section of turn three. Rafael Villagomez was squeezed to the kerb and spun out, because the Van Amersfoort Racing driver couldn’t get his car moving again, he was forced to retire. As a result, the safety car was deployed.
The safety car soon peeled back into the pit lane at the end of lap three. This left Correa as the pace setter to lead the pack around the Austrian circuit. As the field arrived to the penultimate corner, turn nine, Correa bolted away and managed to lead the field into turn one.
However, the ART driver suffered heartbreak as he finished the fifth lap. On the exit of turn 10, Correa was seen driving slowly down the pit straight. It was suspected the American suffered a gearbox issue. This allowed Collet to inherit his race lead, once again.
Jenzer Racing’s William Alatalo brought out the virtual safety car, on lap nine, as the Finnish driver pulled off to the side of the track along the back straight. However
The safety car was once again redeployed, on lap 10, after Trident’s Zane Maloney was spun out of the race on the exit of turn three.
The Trident was squeezed off onto the sausage kerb as two Prema drivers, of Arthur Leclerc and Oliver Bearman, raced up the inside line of turn three. Maloney soon banged wheels with Bearman and found himself in a spin but he managed to stop on the adjacent grass verge.
In a similar fashion to the first safety car restart, at the end of lap 13, Collet bolted away on the run down into turn nine. While Collet managed to hold onto the lead into the first three corners. Prema’s Jak Crawford put Collet under pressure into turn four. However, Collet was able to hold off Crwaford until turn seven, as the Prema successfully passed the MP Motorsport driver around the outside.
Bearman was given a five-second time penalty, on lap 18, for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. While Charouz’s Enzo Fittipaldi was also given a time penalty, albeit a 10-second one, for speeding in the pit lane. At the end of the race, Campos’ David Vidales was the last driver to be given a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.
Despite his last gasp-attempt to regain the race lead, Collet couldn’t find a way past Crawford who went on to take the chequered flag – and win the Austrian Sprint Race.
Top three:
- Zak Crawford, Prema
- Caio Collet, MP Motorsport
- Franco Colapinto, VAR
That’s it for the article: F3 Austrian Sprint: Zak Crawford secures win ahead of Collet! What did you think of the race? Let us know in the comments!
Read more F3 here
- F3 Austrian GP: Isack Hadjar secures maiden pole position
- F3 British GP: Arthur Leclerc commands feature race win
- F3 British Sprint Race: Isack Hadjar wins after penultimate lap move
- F3 British GP: Zak O’Sullivan takes maiden pole position
To keep up to date with the latest news from Apex Motorsports, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
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.
