After some late night visits to the stewards it eventually was Dino Beganovic who would start the sprint race from pole, with Nikita Bedrin alongside him on the front row. Luke Browning started from 15th on the grid after he saw his lap time deleted for causing the red flag in qualifying. Joshua Dufek was disqualified for a breach of the technichal regulations, as both Piotr Wisnicki and Kacper Sztuka received a three-place grid penalty
The first start was aborted as Joseph Loake took the wrong spot after the formation lap, prompting another formation lap and a lap less on the total race distance (xx to 18). At lights went out and Beganovic has the best getaway, but Bedrin directly puts on the pressure and passes Beganovic on the inside of turn 3.
Matias Zagazeta and Mari Boya come together after the first chicane, which causes the right rear wheel of Zagazeta to break. Tim Tramnitz passes Christian Mansell into turn 3, as Tasanapol Inthrapuvasak is under investigation for a technical infringement, which will be addressed after the race.
The Virtual Safety Car is called to retrieve the stricken car of Zagazeta, and as the track is clear again it is Nikola Tsolov who hits Santiago Ramos, causing a broken front wing for himself and a puncture for Ramos. Loake gets a 10 second stop-and-go penalty for not entering the pitlane after causing the aborted start.
With DRS now enabled it is Callum Voisin who is pressuring Inthraphuvasak for third and hits the Thai lightly into turn 3. Beganovic in turn pressures Bedrin, who doesn’t have DRS of course, but for the moment can’t seem to find a way past.
Voisin tries another overtake on Inthraphuvasak into the chicane, but finds there is no space to make the move stick.
Mansell tries a dive bomb on Tramnitz, but overshoots turn 1 and has to let the MP Motorsports driver go. Browning overtakes Sami Meguetounif as the latter has to defend heavily into turn 1, giving Browning the opportunity to pass him on corner exit.
Beganovic piles up the pressure on Bedrin and forces the Russian driver with an Italian licence to defend into turn 1. This gives the Swede a nice opportunity into turn 2, but he loses control and almost spins out, giving up a place to Inthraphuvasak. This causes the field to bunch up, giving Tramnitz an opportunity on Voisin in the chicane, causing the latter to cut the corner.
Browning passes Laurens van Hoepen into turn 1 as Voisin gives the position back to Tramnitz. A lap later it is Mansell who forces Voisin wide into turn 1 as Tsolov gets penalised for the collision with Ramos with a 10 second time penalty.
Mansell again tries to dive-bomb Tramnitz, but again cannot make the corner well enough to keep his car ahead.
Voisin is struggling with his tyres as he goes wide in turn 11 and is hunted down by Leonardo Fornaroli and Browning on the main straight, but the Briton fends of both attackers for the time being.
Beganovic has a look on the inside of Inthraphuvasak but is a little to far away to make an actual attempt for second place.
In the final lap Gabriele Miní tries to overtake Noel León in turns 2 and 3, but the Mexican driver braves it out around the outside, giving Martinius Stenshorne an opportunity to overtake around the outside of turn 4. He makes the move stick and demotes Miní to 14th.
Up front nothing changes, meaning Bedrin wins his first Formula 3 race. As a bonus he also drives the fastest lap of the top 10, giving him an extra point. Inthraphuvasak and Beganovic complete the podium. Tramnitz is fourth from Mansell, Voisin and Fornaroli. Browning caps off a great recovery drive with eighth from tomorrow’s pole sitter Van Hoepen and Meguetounif.
