F3 Bahrain Sprint: Marti secures first win of 2023 in season opener

Campos Racing’s Josep Maria Marti secured the first race win of 2023 in Bahrain, securing his maiden win at the same time, after a late move on Van Amersfoort Racing’s Franco Colapinto.

• VAR’s Franco Colapinto lined up in pole position for the first Formula 3 race of the year after drivers became victims to track limits on Friday’s qualifying session
• The safety car was deployed on the second lap after Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez made contact with Trident’s Bortoleto 
• The race lead changed hands on lap 14 as ART’s Josep Maria Marti snatched the lead away from Colapinto into turn four

It was an even start between Colapinto, on pole, and second-placed Marti as the lights went out.

The two drivers went wheel-to-wheel down into turn one but the pole sitter calmly dealt with Marti’s advances and maintained ahead of the pack. As Marti was out of position going into the subsequent left-hander, the ART driver was soon underpressure from Van Amersfoort Racing’s Caio Collet who moved up to P2.

Further back, Hitech’s Gabriele Mini stalled on the grid as he attempted to get away when the lights went out. As the remaining pack behind him raced down to turn one, Mini was finally able to get his car going albeit at the back of the order.

The Aston Martin racing car was soon deployed out on circuit as VAR’s Villagomez and Trident’s Boroleto made contact between turns four and five. As a result of the contact, Villagomez’s car spun out and smashed into the barrier whereas Bortoleto dropped down into P15.

At the end of lap six, Colapinto led the pack back to racing. In a bid to minimise any chances of being overtaken by those behind him due to the slipstream, the MP Motorsport driver waited until the very last second before he bolted down the main straight.

When the pack reached turn one, Colapinto had the inside line covered and maintained the lead into the second corner, but Marti took the opportunity to regain second place from Collet into the first corner.

However, once the pack reached turn one, two cars were seen stranded down at turn one. Hitech’s Luke Browning was soon found at the side of the track, and out of the race, after the contact at turn one.  The race was soon neurtralised down to a Virtual Safety Car before it was upgraded to a full safety car.

ART’s Nikola Tsolov was given a 10-second time penalty, on lap eight, for a starting grid infringement. Replays found the driver still had mechanics on the starting grid after the signal to leave. Alejandro Garcia was also given a 10-second stop/go penalty, on lap 11, for a starting grid infringement.

Despite being under investigation for driving erratically, Colapinto completed a similar move to get the race back underway on lap 12. As such, the move allowed the MP driver to maintain the lead of the race ahead of Marti and Collet who remained second and third respectively.

Although Marti couldn’t find a way past Colapinto into the first corner, Marti took an attempt into turn four as the Campos driver got his nose ahead around the outside. Despite a good attempt to overtake the race leader, Marti was shown the door on the corner exit as Colapinto forced him wide and onto the run-off area.

On lap 14, after a failed previous attempt, the race lead finally changed hands after Marti finally made a successful move on Colapinto into the braking zone of turn four.

Podium:

1. Josep Maria Marti, Campos Racing
2. Franco Colapinto, MP Motorsport
3. Caio Collet, Van Amersfoort Racing

That’s it for the article: F3 Bahrain Sprint: Marti secures first win of 2023 in season opener!

What do you think of Franco Colapinto’s race restarts, was it okay or was it erratic? Let us know in the comments!

Read more F3 here

• F3 Bahrain: Bortoleto fastest in first practice of 2023 season
• Dams confirm Arthur Leclerc to join 2023 F2 grid
• 2023 Dutch Feature Race: Maloney takes back-to-back win in Zandvoort
• F3 Dutch Sprint: Collet secures victory after early move on Correa
• F3 Dutch GP: Maloney secures pole as Alatalo causes late red flag
• Belgian GP: Maloney heads Trident 1-2 in Spa with maiden win

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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.

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.