Luke Browning left the Red Bull Ring and Austria with his second victory of the Formula 3 season – winning the second race in Spielberg on Sunday. This was the first round of the year without a different winner from previous ones, after Nikola Tsolov also repeated the victory in the opening race.
Browning (Hitech Pulse-Eight) took advantage of his pole position, maintaining the lead. Tim Tramnitz (MP Motorsport) had worse luck, starting from third and failing to start, losing several positions. Thus, Arvid Lindblad (Prema) moved up to second. However, in the eighth lap, he sank in the standings after an incident with Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport), for which the Irishman was penalized.
Despite always being at the top of the standings, Browning had to sweat in the final phase to win. Dino Beganovic (Prema) proved to be a strong rival, pressing until he lost control of the rear in the last corner and allowed the leader to gain some margin.
Meanwhile, the Swede came under pressure from Gabriele Minì (Prema), who unsuccessfully attempted an overtaking maneuver… momentarily losing the third position to Christian Mansell (ART Grand Prix). The Italian did not give up, quickly regained the position, and on the penultimate lap overtook Beganovic… who responded in the subsequent lap, reclaiming the second place in turn three.
However, at turn six Minì successfully launched one last attack and finished in second place. In front, Browning took advantage of the battles to distance himself even further, finishing with a 1.685s lead over his rival. Beganovic had to settle for the lowest place on the podium, with Mansell in fourth and Oliver Göthe (Campos) in fifth ahead of Tsolov. In the championship, Browning now leads with an 11-point advantage over Minì.
Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident) was leading in Austria and dropped to third place after only scoring two points with a ninth-place finish in this race. Laurens van Hoepen (ART Grand Prix), in eighth place, set the fastest eligible lap for scoring points.
Results:
