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F3 Imola: Goethe reinstated as sprint race winner after penalty rescinded

Goethe had been given a five-second penalty for not staying above the minimum time during the safety car period, but upon review the stewards revoked the penalty as it didn’t reflect changes to the 2024 sporting regulations made at the start of the season.

The German has been handed back his win, having passed Leon on the final lap at a virtual safety car restart.

Leon had negotiated the various interruptions in a stop-start race, but with Goethe’s penalty overturned, it was double disaster for the Mexican as he was given a post-race five-second penalty for weaving behind the safety car.

That, plus Tim Tramnitz’s own penalty being rescinded for the same reason as Goethe’s, means the MP Motorsport driver moves up to second and Loen drops to third.

Championship leader Luke Browning had been on to finish sixth and open up a gap at the top having entered the race level on points with Leonardo Fornaroli.

But a late incident left him in the gravel at Tosa, continuing his run of failing to score in a sprint race this season.

In a typically frenetic start, polesitter Kaper Sztuka was quickly thrust down the order and out of the podium places with Leon, Tramnitz and sixth-placed starter Goethe all making ground.

But the action was quickly halted by a safety car intervention as Mari Boya’s Campos Racing entry spun into the gravel at the Variante Villeneuve midway through the first lap.

Mari Boya, Campos Racing (Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd)

Following a short investigation, the stewards handed Tommy Smith a 10-second penalty for his part in the incident.

When the racing resumed, championship contender Leonardo Fornaroli got involved in a heated battle with AIX driver Nikita Bedrin over 13th, with the both drivers pushing the limits and sampling the plentiful gravel recently installed around the Imola layout.

No sooner had the racing resumed than it was halted once more, as Charlie Wurz assisted Callum Voisin into the barriers at Tosa, something that earned the Austrian a 10-second penalty.

And a third safety car intervention followed soon after, as Sami Meguetounif stuck the rear of one of the Prema car on the run to Tamburello and found himself stuck in the gravel.

Racing threatened to break out following a lap 11 restart but this was thwarted when Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, who had started from the pitlane after failing to launch for the warm-up lap, pulled off the track at Rivazza.

Now on lap 15, Leon made his restart much earlier than before, catching out fourth-placed Sztuka who dropped three seconds off the lead trio and soon fell behind Dino Beganovic.

Championship leader Browning had been set to finish sixth before he collided with Sztuka at Tosa.

On the last lap, the virtual safety car was deployed to cover the incident, with the pack freed to race the closing corners.

As the VSC was withdrawn, Goethe caught Leon napping and stole the lead with only two corners to go.

F3 Imola sprint race results

   
1
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Bonus
1
O. Goethe Campos Racing
10 18

34'19.754

      10   1
2
T. Tramnitz MP Motorsport
7 18

+2.157

34'21.911

2.157     9    
3
N. León Van Amersfoort Racing
20 18

+5.340

34'25.094

3.183     8    
4
D. Beganovic Prema Powerteam
1 18

+8.266

34'28.020

2.926     7    
5
K. Sztuka MP Motorsport
8 18

+8.811

34'28.565

0.545     6    
6
G. Minì Prema Powerteam
2 18

+9.404

34'29.158

0.593     5    
7
L. Van ART Grand Prix
24 18

+9.795

34'29.549

0.391     4    
8
A. Lindblad Prema Powerteam
3 18

+10.268

34'30.022

0.473     3    
9
N. Bedrin PHM AIX Racing
27 18

+10.829

34'30.583

0.561     2    
10
S. Ramos Trident
6 18

+11.186

34'30.940

0.357     1    
11
L. Fornaroli Trident
4 18

+11.675

34'31.429

0.489          
12
C. Mansell ART Grand Prix
23 18

+12.352

34'32.106

0.677          
13
N. Tsolov ART Grand Prix
25 18

+12.950

34'32.704

0.598          
14
A. Dunne MP Motorsport
9 18

+13.979

34'33.733

1.029          
15 Germany S. Flörsch Van Amersfoort Racing 21 18

+14.458

34'34.212

0.479          
16
J. Dufek PHM AIX Racing
28 18

+15.500

34'35.254

1.042          
17
M. Zagazeta Jenzer Motorsport
19 18

+18.617

34'38.371

3.117          
18
M. Esterson Jenzer Motorsport
18 18

+18.863

34'38.617

0.246          
19
C. Shields Hitech Pulse-Eight
16 18

+19.224

34'38.978

0.361          
20
P. Wiśnicki Rodin Motorsport
30 18

+19.541

34'39.295

0.317          
21
J. Loake Rodin Motorsport
31 18

+20.039

34'39.793

0.498          
22
M. Stenshorne Hitech Pulse-Eight
15 18

+20.680

34'40.434

0.641          
23
C. Wurz Jenzer Motorsport
17 18

+25.023

34'44.777

4.343          
24
T. Smith Van Amersfoort Racing
22 18

+30.860

34'50.614

5.837          
25 Colombia S. Montoya Campos Racing 11 18

+33.815

34'53.569

2.955          
dnf
L. Browning Hitech Pulse-Eight
14 16

+2 Laps

30'55.825

2 Laps       Accident  
dnf
T. Inthraphuvasak PHM AIX Racing
26 12

+6 Laps

25'05.820

4 Laps       Retirement  
dnf
S. Meguetounif Trident
5 7

+11 Laps

14'17.094

5 Laps       Retirement  
dnf
C. Voisin Rodin Motorsport
29 4

+14 Laps

8'09.241

3 Laps       Retirement  
dnf
M. Boya Campos Racing
12 0

-

        Retirement  
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