The third round of the 2024 Formula 3 Championship in Imola did not fail to deliver with its competition and drama, leading to many firsts for the teams and drivers. Feeder Series sums up the key points of the first Italian race weekend of the season. 

By Tori Turner

A remarkable effort from Goethe

Ollver Goethe had a weekend to remember, scoring the most points for the round and for any round this season so far. Whilst he had consistent points finishes so far this season, Goethe proved why you shouldn’t count him out yet for championship contention after scoring a race win and a runner-up position. 

Qualifying seventh, Goethe’s time of a 1:32.254 secured him a spot that would place him in the middle of the top 12 for both races. In a sprint race where safety cars controlled the pack of drivers and limited the laps where passes were possible, the Campos driver was able to deliver several overtakes from the beginning, allowing him to excel through the order fast. By the end of the first lap, when the first safety car had been called, he had already made up three positions. Goethe’s race did not progress again until lap 13 due to several incidents and restarts. A move on fellow Red Bull Junior Tim Tramnitz at Tamburello allowed him to take second easily. 

An incident for championship leader Luke Browning would lead to a VSC on the final lap which played right into Goethe’s hands. He had been trailing behind Noel León up until that point and was able to catch him out on the restart. As soon as the green flag was waved, Goethe made an incredible jump for the lead with his fast reaction time, holding off the position until he reached the chequered flag. During his cooldown lap back to parc fermé, Goethe was given a five-second time penalty for a safety car infringement, handing the win back to León. The penalty was later removed by the stewards post-race and León was given a five-second penalty of his own for weaving, reinstating Goethe’s win. 

Another stroke of good fortune came for Goethe on Sunday morning. A decent launch off the grid allowed him to take Prema Racing’s Dino Beganovic on the opening lap, moving him up to fifth, before he passed Arvid Lindblad for fourth at Rivazza. When DRS was enabled a lap later, Goethe overtook Sami Meguetounif and set his sights on Santiago Ramos ahead of him who he would catch up to on Lap 5 at Tamburello. A chance of another win came around on Lap 6 when he was able to take advantage of Trident driver Leonardo Fornaroli’s engine cutting out. He remained in first until Meguetounif reclaimed the top position for Trident during the final laps of the race.

Even without making it a double, Goethe’s race pace was exceptional and one of the factors which led to his results. When you take into account his ability to make concise but clean overtakes on his fellow drivers during races, he is certainly one driver to watch throughout the rest of the season.

Trident’s qualifying pace

The Trident trio had every reason to be overjoyed on Friday afternoon when they became the first team in almost five years to have a one-two-three finish in qualifying. With just over two and a half tenths covering the Trident team, it was certainly a feat to be proud of at their home race. Ramos’ pole position of a 1:31.767 also made it a second in a row for the team, albeit with a different driver from their roster.

The reverse grid positions posed a challenge for the Italian team during the sprint race. With the addition of four safety cars, it made it almost impossible for any of the drivers to gain any positions. Adding to their misfortune,  Meguetounif ended up in the gravel after the second safety car restart on Lap 8 and was stuck as a result, bringing an end to his race. Meguetounif’s frustration was visible when he climbed out of his car. Polesitter Ramos was the only Trident driver to score points on Saturday, adding a singular one to further their contention for the team’s championship. 

Putting the sprint results behind them, Trident were able to convert their pole position into a win during Sunday’s feature race. Whilst Ramos was able to maintain the lead off the line, he was soon overtaken by teammate Fornaroli on Lap 3, and later by sprint-winner Goethe on Lap 5. A lap later, a dream win for the home hero Fornaroli slipped through his fingers when an issue with his engine sent him tumbling down the order to fifth. The issue was fortunately not terminal and he was able to recover throughout the race to claim the final podium position. 

During the later stages of the race, Ramos’ hopes of winning his first race and placing on the podium decreased further when Fornaroli made a move on him for the second time. From then on, Ramos fell down the order and was overtaken by four other drivers, leaving him in eighth. In the end, it was a move on Lap 18 which secured the win for Trident when Meguetounif overtook Goethe at Tamburello. The win was Trident’s first of the season and Meguetounif’s first win in the series.

By the end of the weekend, Trident had gained 47 points which minimised the gap to Prema Racing to only 15 points. 

Under the radar performances

Mari Boya’s weekend was off to a disappointing start when he qualified almost two seconds off pole position, placing him down in 27th for both races. After talking to Feeder Series on Thursday about “extracting more valuable laps” in the car, things went wrong for him on Friday. The prospect of making up positions during the sprint was stolen away on the first lap after contact with Tommy Smith out of the Villeneuve chicane. Boya was left with one final chance to deliver this weekend, and that moment came on Sunday morning when he made up 18 positions. 

The Campos driver’s charge through the pack began once he made it to the end of the first lap unscathed and a total of four positions above where he started. From then on, it was a steady and consistent drive that moved him up through the grid. By the halfway point of the race, he was up in 14th having overtaken the likes of fellow teammate Sebastián Montoya along the way. Over the next four laps, Boya picked off Christian Mansell,  León and Tramnitz, finally putting him in reach of the points he had been chasing after.

Finally, on Lap 17, that moment came when he overtook Laurens van Hoepen for the coveted tenth position. On the penultimate lap, Boya secured his points finish by overtaking Martinius Stenshorne for ninth – a position which would have come post race when Stenshorne’s 10-second time penalty was applied – and stayed comfortably in that position until he crossed the chequered flag. 

Similarly, Alex Dunne should also be noted for his performance in both races. Despite a disqualification in qualifying due to a technical nonconformity that left him in last, the Irish driver was able to make a decent recovery in the sprint and feature races, finishing 16th and 14th respectively. 

Header photo credit: Trident Racing