Ramos seals first win of the season in chaotic F3 Sprint
In a Sprint that struggled to find its rhythm, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Santiago Ramos led the youthful field from start to finish, holding off Martinius Stenshorne and Roman Bilinski through the chaos to take the first win of the season.
On the highly anticipated run down to the first corner, Matias Zagazeta made his first ploy at stealing the lead from the #21, however, he was soon faced with an attack from the hungry crew of drivers behind, and Martinius Stenshorne in particular.
The McLaren-backed driver pulled off an impressive double overtake on the run to Turn 11, boosting himself into second place before chaos unfolded behind.
Charlie Wurz quickly found himself unable to continue racing after making contact with Dufek, with the latter requiring a long trip to the pitlane for a new front wing as debris from the incident caused a Virtual Safety Car.
James Wharton, on debut in front of his home crowd, also had his Sprint come to a crashing end after less than two laps of racing.
Following the first VSC restart, the field put their feet to the floor as they rounded the final sector, a push that left the Australian unable to control his machinery and careering into Rafael Camara and Laurens Van Hoepen.
Both drivers found themselves beached in the Turn 11 gravel trap while Wharton was left tiptoeing back to the pitlane, with damage assessments forcing the Australian to retire in Melbourne with a ten-second time penalty to his name.
Requiring a full Safety Car, the field grew impatient and were all the more eager when the track went green.
Holding out once again, Ramos maintained the lead position, however, it wasn’t without a fight from Stenshorne who soon found himself running within two-tenths of the Mexican driver on Lap 11.
The extra pressure was obviously weighing down on Ramos who made a string of mistakes through the final sector, locking up as a DRS attack arrived on the main straight.
Watching the leaders battle from third, Bilinski was told to play the waiting game with his team predicting chaos up ahead, however, it came from further back when Javier Sagrera and Bruno del Pino collided, sending each driver into the gravel at Turn 7.
With limited laps remaining, the race finished under Safety Car conditions, with Ramos, Stenshorne and Bilinski the three drivers to complete the first podium of the season.
Image: Epic Sports Photography – Peter Norton
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