Trident delivers excellent second place with Fornaroli
The Feature Race wrapped up the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship Melbourne weekend and in the State of Victoria, Trident Motorsport confirmed its solid form. The Italian squad fought for the win until the end of the race, with Leonardo Fornaroli posting a convincing second place.
It was an important result for the 19-year-old Piacenza native, who jumped to the top of the championship standings. Fornaroli was off to a great start, leading the pack by more than a second in the early stages. The safety car came in from laps 2 to 6 to clean the escape roads from some stopped cars. As the field regrouped, Fornaroli lost his advantage, but once again took the lead, escaping from the DRS zone again.
In the middle stages, Fornaroli had to lower his pace due to graining and understeer, but while he was managing the tires and trying to clean them, he lost the point. From that moment, he pressured the leader without having the chance to induce him into a mistake. Second place still enabled the Trident Motorsport driver to secure the lead in the championship standings. Sami Meguetounif made a good comeback from P26 to P12, thanks to a solid pace and overtaking. A puncture ruined the Feature Race for Santiago Ramos, who was rear-ended by another competitor. Ramos completed his second experience in the FIA Formula 3 Championship in P24.
Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager, Feature Race Quote:“Having achieved pole position with Leonardo Fornaroli, the goal of the day could only be to win our first race of the season. After having held the lead for a long time, graining prevented Fornaroli from defending his position in the middle part of the race and, subsequently, from regaining it at the end. However, Fornaroli achieved a remarkable second place that propelled him to the championship lead. Meguetounif put together a thorough comeback and came close to the points after starting in P26 due to a qualifying crash. Ramos also showed a good level of performance this weekend. Unfortunately, he was hit by another driver and picked up a puncture, which ruined his race."