F3 Imola: Goethe reinstated as sprint race winner after penalty rescinded

Oliver Goethe has been reinstated as winner of the Formula 3 sprint race at Imola after his post-race penalty was rescinded, meaning he keeps the victory after a last-lap overtake on Noel Leon.

Goethe had been given a five-second penalty for not staying above the minimum time during the safety car period, but upon review the stewards revoked the penalty as it didn’t reflect changes to the 2024 sporting regulations made at the start of the season.

The German has been handed back his win, having passed Leon on the final lap at a virtual safety car restart.

Leon had negotiated the various interruptions in a stop-start race, but with Goethe’s penalty overturned, it was double disaster for the Mexican as he was given a post-race five-second penalty for weaving behind the safety car.

That, plus Tim Tramnitz’s own penalty being rescinded for the same reason as Goethe’s, means the MP Motorsport driver moves up to second and Loen drops to third.

Championship leader Luke Browning had been on to finish sixth and open up a gap at the top having entered the race level on points with Leonardo Fornaroli.

But a late incident left him in the gravel at Tosa, continuing his run of failing to score in a sprint race this season.

In a typically frenetic start, polesitter Kaper Sztuka was quickly thrust down the order and out of the podium places with Leon, Tramnitz and sixth-placed starter Goethe all making ground.

But the action was quickly halted by a safety car intervention as Mari Boya’s Campos Racing entry spun into the gravel at the Variante Villeneuve midway through the first lap.

Mari Boya, Campos Racing

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Following a short investigation, the stewards handed Tommy Smith a 10-second penalty for his part in the incident.

When the racing resumed, championship contender Leonardo Fornaroli got involved in a heated battle with AIX driver Nikita Bedrin over 13th, with the both drivers pushing the limits and sampling the plentiful gravel recently installed around the Imola layout.

No sooner had the racing resumed than it was halted once more, as Charlie Wurz assisted Callum Voisin into the barriers at Tosa, something that earned the Austrian a 10-second penalty.

And a third safety car intervention followed soon after, as Sami Meguetounif stuck the rear of one of the Prema car on the run to Tamburello and found himself stuck in the gravel.

Racing threatened to break out following a lap 11 restart but this was thwarted when Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, who had started from the pitlane after failing to launch for the warm-up lap, pulled off the track at Rivazza.

Now on lap 15, Leon made his restart much earlier than before, catching out fourth-placed Sztuka who dropped three seconds off the lead trio and soon fell behind Dino Beganovic.

Championship leader Browning had been set to finish sixth before he collided with Sztuka at Tosa.

On the last lap, the virtual safety car was deployed to cover the incident, with the pack freed to race the closing corners.

As the VSC was withdrawn, Goethe caught Leon napping and stole the lead with only two corners to go.

F3 Imola sprint race results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Bonus
1	O. Goethe Campos Racing	10	18	34'19.754				10		1
2	T. Tramnitz MP Motorsport	7	18	+2.157 34'21.911	2.157			9
3	N. León Van Amersfoort Racing	20	18	+5.340 34'25.094	3.183			8
4	D. Beganovic Prema Powerteam	1	18	+8.266 34'28.020	2.926			7
5	K. Sztuka MP Motorsport	8	18	+8.811 34'28.565	0.545			6
6	G. Minì Prema Powerteam	2	18	+9.404 34'29.158	0.593			5
7	L. Van ART Grand Prix	24	18	+9.795 34'29.549	0.391			4
8	A. Lindblad Prema Powerteam	3	18	+10.268 34'30.022	0.473			3
9	N. Bedrin PHM AIX Racing	27	18	+10.829 34'30.583	0.561			2
10	S. Ramos Trident	6	18	+11.186 34'30.940	0.357			1
11	L. Fornaroli Trident	4	18	+11.675 34'31.429	0.489
12	C. Mansell ART Grand Prix	23	18	+12.352 34'32.106	0.677
13	N. Tsolov ART Grand Prix	25	18	+12.950 34'32.704	0.598
14	A. Dunne MP Motorsport	9	18	+13.979 34'33.733	1.029
15	S. Flörsch Van Amersfoort Racing	21	18	+14.458 34'34.212	0.479
16	J. Dufek PHM AIX Racing	28	18	+15.500 34'35.254	1.042
17	M. Zagazeta Jenzer Motorsport	19	18	+18.617 34'38.371	3.117
18	M. Esterson Jenzer Motorsport	18	18	+18.863 34'38.617	0.246
19	C. Shields Hitech Pulse-Eight	16	18	+19.224 34'38.978	0.361
20	P. Wiśnicki Rodin Motorsport	30	18	+19.541 34'39.295	0.317
21	J. Loake Rodin Motorsport	31	18	+20.039 34'39.793	0.498
22	M. Stenshorne Hitech Pulse-Eight	15	18	+20.680 34'40.434	0.641
23	C. Wurz Jenzer Motorsport	17	18	+25.023 34'44.777	4.343
24	T. Smith Van Amersfoort Racing	22	18	+30.860 34'50.614	5.837
25	S. Montoya Campos Racing	11	18	+33.815 34'53.569	2.955
dnf	L. Browning Hitech Pulse-Eight	14	16	+2 Laps 30'55.825	2 Laps				Accident
dnf	T. Inthraphuvasak PHM AIX Racing	26	12	+6 Laps 25'05.820	4 Laps				Retirement
dnf	S. Meguetounif Trident	5	7	+11 Laps 14'17.094	5 Laps				Retirement
dnf	C. Voisin Rodin Motorsport	29	4	+14 Laps 8'09.241	3 Laps				Retirement
dnf	M. Boya Campos Racing	12	0	-					Retirement
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