FEATURE RACE: Meguetounif denies Goethe Imola sweep with maiden F3 win

Trident’s Sami Meguetounif earned his first victory in FIA Formula 3, winning the Imola Feature Race from third on the grid. Oliver Goethe had led the way in the middle phase of the race but couldn’t add another victory for Campos Racing after his Sprint success the day before. Leonardo Fornaroli took the lead of the Drivers’ Championship with a hard-fought P3 finish.AS IT HAPPENEDSantiago Ramos perfected his start and led the trio of Tridents flying in formation to the first chicane, Fornaroli and Meguetounif with tows close behind. Sprint Race winner Oliver Goethe was following the PREMA Racing car of Arvid Lindblad in the battle for fourth after climbing up three spots on the opening lap. The Campos driver was able to find a route through on the second lap to take P4 from the Briton.Onto Lap 3 and Fornaroli had the tow with DRS to sweep into the lead of the race into the first chicane. Further back, Goethe took third from Meguetounif while Luke Browning made a move on the PREMA of Dino Beganovic into the same corner to move up to sixth position in his Hitech Pulse-Eight #14 car.Lap 4 and Browning was side-by-side with Lindblad into Turn 2, but the PREMA rookie was tough in defence, allowing Beganovic to get back through on the Williams Academy driver for sixth position.With DRS, Goethe was by the pole sitter Ramos at Turn 2 on Lap 5, brave on the brakes to sweep around the outside of the Mexican for P2.One lap later and the Red Bull Junior Team driver had the lead of the race after an issue for Fornaroli on the main straight put him down to fifth position.The Tridents headed the field 1-2-3 at the start in ImolaLap 9 and Browning moved back ahead of Beganovic with the DRS advantage on the main straight as Fornaroli hustled Lindblad for P4. He couldn’t find a route through at the first chicane until the following lap.Browning was the next driver to relegate Lindblad down the order, the Hitech driver taking fifth position into the first chicane with DRS.Trident teammates Ramos and Meguetounif were in battle on Lap 12 as the Frenchman cleared taking second position into Turn 2. Goethe meanwhile had built up his advantage in the lead and was ahead by 2.5s at the halfway point.Fornaroli’s fightback continued at the expense of Ramos on Lap 14, clearing his teammate to take third. Browning moved ahead of the Mexican driver on the next lap to move himself into P4 to keep title rival Fornaroli in sight.Lap 16 and Beganovic was on the move too, taking fifth from Ramos with DRS.Up ahead, Meguetounif had slowly closed down the gap on race leader Goethe and moved to within DRS range going into Lap 17, just 0.7s behind across the line.With five laps to go, the Frenchman rounded the Campos driver to take the lead at the first chicane, though Fornaroli was catching the pair with a lap over a second quicker than the top two.The Italian was into DRS range of Goethe on Lap 19 but couldn’t find a way to pass the Campos driver before the end.Meguetounif bided his time to earn his first F3 race victoryIt left Meguetounif to take his maiden Formula 3 race win on Trident home soil ahead of Goethe and Fornaroli. Browning took important points with fourth position ahead of the PREMA duo of Beganovic and Gabriele Minì.Pole sitter Ramos was seventh in the end ahead of Lindblad, Mari Boya in the Campos who climbed from 27th on the grid, as Sebastian Montoya rounded out the points to ensure all three Campos drivers were in the points.KEY QUOTE – Sami Meguetounif, Trident“I don’t know what to say. I’m just extremely happy. The race was great, it was tough at the beginning, but I kept going and managed to find a crazy pace a the end of the race. Now I will enjoy it with the team and it feels so great, I have nothing else to say!“ THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGSWith a P3 finish, Leonardo Fornaroli takes the lead of the Drivers’ Championship on 52 points, while Luke Browning trails behind in second on 49. Dino Beganovic goes to third on 45 points, level with PREMA teammate Gabriele Minì, while Oliver Goethe’s Imola weekend moves him into the top five on 41 points.In the Teams’ Standings, PREMA Racing remain at the top on 122 points with compatriots Trident next best in P2 on 107 points. Campos Racing move up to third on 72 points while Hitech Pulse-Eight and ART Grand Prix follow on 59 and 49 respectively.UP NEXTThere’s no time to rest as Formula 3 heads straight to Monte Carlo for Round 4 of the 2024 Championship, from May 23-26.