Ugo Ugochukwu took victory in the first Formula 3 Feature Race of the season in Melbourne, with Freddie Slater and Taito Kato finishing on the podium.
In a disrupted race, Theophile Nael and Noah Stromsted lost out as penalties dropped them from the top five. But after taking the lead in the early laps, Ugochukwu had an uninterrupted run to the chequered flag.
Slater fought for the lead
Nael lined up in pole position with Ugochukwu alongside him. Nael made a good launch, but Slater was on his tail as he made his way past Ugochukwu in the early corners.
Slater was side by side with Nael, but the Campos driver held strong and maintained the lead.
Stromsted fought with Kato for eighth place, the two nearly touching as they went through the corners side by side.
Ugochukwu went to take second place back from Slater, as the Trident driver fell out of DRS range from Nael. Moving around the outside of Slater, the Campos driver made quick work of moving into second.
Jose Garfias suffered a puncture early on, dropping through the order as he pitted to fix the issue. A result that PREMA wanted to avoid after Louis Sharp and James Wharton both were unable to start the Feature Race.
Ugochukwu took the lead from his teammate in Turn 9. Nael kept it clean and on the gearbox of the American driver, but settled into second place.
Bruno Del Pino was flying in tenth, taking the fastest lap of the race as he closed in on the back of Mattia Colnaghi.
On Lap 9, Brando Badoer spun but managed to keep going. However, a yellow flag was waved when Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi ran through the gravel in Turn 12, hitting the wall.
A clean restart
Ugochukwu led the field green as the Safety Car came in, the American holding onto his lead with 0.8s to Nael behind. Nicola Lacorte had a good restart, lining up a move on Maciej Gladysz on Lap 12.
Unfortunately, the DAMS driver was just too far back to make the move, but he continued to hover on the gearbox, keeping the pressure on.
On lap 13, Lacorte swept around the outside of Gladysz, taking fourth, immediately setting his sights on the Slater up the road. Just two laps later, the DAMS driver took third place from Slater in Turn 11.
Nael received a five-second penalty for moving before the start signal, but the gap was 3.6s to Lacorte in third.
Slater made it back into second as Lacorte fought with Stromsted into Turn 12, the duo making contact with the DAMS driver, which knocked off his front wing and dropped him to eighth place.
Lacorte’s day went from bad to worse as the DAMS driver received a five-second penalty for also moving before the start signal.
Slater looked around the outside of Nael on Lap 20, but the Campos driver managed to maintain his position. The Trident driver wasn’t giving up as he went around the outside in Turn 9, taking second place.
Safety Car in the final laps
Stromsted wanted to join the fight, but his chance was cut short as a Safety Car was brought out as Woohyun Shin hit the wall after running wide in Turn 5.
Noah Stromsted received a ten-second penalty for his contact with Lacorte earlier in the race. With the Safety Car still out on Lap 22, Stromsted and Nael were both going to drop through the order after the chequered flag.
Ugochukwu crossed the line to take the win with Slater behind and Kato finishing the podium after the penalties were applied.
Del Pino took fourth, with Gladysz and Enzo Deligny finishing fifth and sixth. Brad Benavides, Pedro Clerot, Jin Nakamura and Colnaghi completed the points positions.
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