Williams prospect Luke Browning powered through concerns about technical issues to hold off Christian Mansell to take the win in Formula 3’s Bahrain Feature race.
Polesitter Beganovic got off to a disastrous start, dropping to the midfield while Browning in the Hitech sped past to lead the entire pack into the first corner.
Red Bull Junior Tim Tramnintz climbed from seventh to third with an excellent first corner, while Sami Meguetounif found a place on the podium by the second lap.
Browning led as chaos ensued behind, with Campos’ Mari Boya picking up a rear left puncture from a collision before collecting a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
As DRS opened on Lap 2, the battle commenced between the top runners as Mansell dived around the inside of Meguetounif before setting his sights on Tramnitz.
The Hitech driver established a strong lead while Mansell snatched the second podium place from Tramnitz to leave him vulnerable to Meguetounif tailing behind.
Tramnitz and Meguetounif relived their FRECA fights on track, with Meguetounif eventually passing the Red Bull academy member as Browning cruised ahead.
Hitech’s Martinius Stenshorne overtook Max Esterston to put himself in contention for the points midway through, as Alpine junior Gabriele Mini climbed the field.
As tyre wear became an issue in the latter half of the race, Mini passed Leonardo Fornaroli and Sprint winner Arvid Lindblad to target Santiago Ramos in fifth place.
Browning held off the ART driver behind despite technical concerns with his Hitech, breaking the DRS train to lead Mansell by 1 second as the Australian driver began to struggle with his tyres.
Oliver Goethe jumped from P17 to P10 in his Campos, as Alexander Dunne put himself in the points places to give MP two cars in the top 10.
In the closing stages, Tramnitz lunged down the inside of Meguetounif to steal back the final podium spot, while Beganovic recovered from his first lap fiasco to finish 13th.
Final Classification:
Browning
Mansell
Tramnitz
Megeutounif
Ramos
Mini
Fornaroli
Lindblad
Dunne
Goethe
