Leonardo Fornaroli (ITA, Trident) celebrates after winning the championship
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Leonardo Fornaroli clinched championship glory with a stunning last-lap dive on ART’s Christian Mansell at the Parabolica as Sami Meguetounif took victory in F3's Italian feature race.
Fornaroli, who finished the race third, becomes the first driver to take the F3 crown without winning a single race, finishing second once and third six times, including in the season-ending feature outing.
With Fornaroli starting from pole and Mini third, all eyes were locked on the Italian duo between whom it appeared that the ultimate battle would be fought.
As outsiders Arvid Lindblad struggled to make ground and Luke Browning lost the rear of his Hitech at Ascari early on - this incident causing a safety car intervention - the championship became a clear two-horse battle on just the fourth lap.
The duel was one that shifted momentum repeatedly with Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport) taking the lead early on as both of the protagonists dropped back.
But an error following the safety car saw Fornaroli take a trip through the Ascari gravel and drop to fifth. At the same moment, Mini was passing Mansell for third.
It was this trio that the action then centred around, as Fornaroli overcame the duo before a lap 20 lock-up while defending from Mini at the Rettifilo chicane resulted in heavy flat spots that hampered him for the remaining laps.
Fornaroli left it late to snatch the title
Photo by: Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
Passing Fornaroli shortly after at the Roggia chicane, Mini wasted no time in overcoming Mansell to secure what should have been a championship-winning points swing by finishing second.
With the final DRS zone of the season cleared and only the Parabolica to round, it appeared set that Mini would stand atop the points table, but a hero-or-zero-style lunge from Fornaroli on Mansell at the final corner of the season changed the picture in an instant and provided a fitting climax to a thrilling campaign, clinching the title by just two points.
Going under the radar, Meguetounif secured his second win of the season, having also topped the podium at Imola earlier this season.
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Source: Autosport