The drivers were on the grid, receiving the last bit of advice from their engineers, and were moments away from lights out. The previous day saw Trident sweep the top three, with Santiago Ramos leading Leonardo Fornaroli and Sami Meguetounif.
MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne has been disqualified from the Formula 3 Imola Qualifying results. The #9 MP Motorsport car was flagged to the Stewards after a post-session technical inspection revealed a potential breach of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Technical Regulations.
Following a review with the driver and team representative, it was determined that Car #9 violated Article 1.4 of the Technical Regulations concerning the non-conformity of the front anti-roll bar links. Consequently, Dunne was removed from the Imola Qualifying session results. Originally qualifying in fifth position, his disqualification promotes those behind he up one place each.
MP Motorsport’s Kacper Sztuka started the Sprint Race on reverse grid pole position, with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel León alongside him in second.
As the lights went green, it was a good start for Sztuka, but León ultimately took the lead at Tamburello. After a difficult first lap, Sztuka saw himself lose places to fellow Red Bull Jr. Tim Tramnitz and to Campos Racing’s Oliver Goethe.
The safety car was deployed in lap 2 after Mari Boya was tagged from the back by Tommy Smith, at the exit of turn 4. This sent him straight into the gravel, ending his sprint race.
Meanwhile, Alex Dunne was up to 23rd after starting last.
With the safety car back in, León went in early and kept his hold of the lead. Luke Browning put pressure on Sztuka for P4.
Laurens Van Hoepen had a tough first sector and lost a place to Dino Beganovic in lap 4. Gabriele Minì looked to overtake, but lost out to Sami Meguetounif of Trident.
Van Hoepen lost P7 to Meguetounif while León was a second and a half ahead of the pack.
The safety car is out again as Callum Voisin hit the barrier at Tosa after contact with Charlie Wurz.
León had a good restart but was pressured by Tramnitz and Goethe. There was great overtaking by Beganovic, who continued to rise as he passed Browning for P5 and put Sztuka under pressure.
Another safety car!
Meguetounif hit the rear of Beganovic’s car. Meguetounif is out, but Beganovic seemed unfazed.
The safety car is back inside on lap 11 and León nailed the restart, leaving Tramnitz behind. He was over a second ahead of the pack, while Tramnitz was pressured by Goethe, who was coming for P2.
A bold overtake by Minì who went around the outside of Van Hoepen on the run-down to turn 5. Goethe also made his move and took P2 from Tramnitz.
The safety car was out for the fourth time. AIX Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak stopped on track, but was able to continue into the pit lane.
Another brilliant restart for León, who was ahead of Goethe and Tramnitz. The gap between León and Goethe was just over a second.
The championship leader Luke Browning had to end his race, as he hit the rear of the MP Motorsport car of Sztuka at Tosa.
The virtual safety car was brought out on the 17th lap.
Oliver Goethe took the fastest lap of the day with 1:33.596s.
As soon as the virtual safety car ended, Goethe reacted quickly and overtook León for the lead to take the race win, while Tramnitz crossed the line in P3, ahead of Beganovic.
Gabriele Minì finished in P6, ahead of Van Hoepen and Arvid Lindblad.
Goethe was handed a five-second penalty and dropped back down to P2, putting León back in the lead.
Noel León won the sprint race!
