From the lights to the checkered flag, Zach O’Sullivan was in complete control throughout the 19 laps at the Hungaroring. His third win of the 2023 campaign moved him up five places in the championship hunt to second in the standings.
Dino Bekanovic ran his own race, taking a comfortable second place to complete a 1-2 finish at Prema Racing. MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto moved from fourth on the grid to complete the podium in third on the opening lap.
It happened
O’Sullivan wasted no time in breaking clear at the front, bolting off the line to cover teammate Beganovic on the run down into Turn 1. The Swede’s focus was on his glass to keep Leonardo Fornaroli at bay.
Oliver Goethe tried to get around the outside of Colapinto, but the MP Motorsport driver struggled to finish fourth. Paul Aron passed Jonny Edgar through Turn 3 after losing P6 off the line.
Gabriel Bordoletto found himself on the TRS train early on, but used a slipstream to pass Johnny Edgar for seventh on Lap 6.
After a disappointing qualifying round, Joseph Maria Marti was on a recovery charge from stage 13. The Spaniard moved up in the points, joining Campos Racing teammate Christian Mansell and Edgar to eighth.
Colapinto wrestled the final spot on the podium away from Forneroli on lap 9, sending a move to the inside and forcing the Italian to fend off fellow Trident driver Goethe.
A lap later, the #6 car got the job done, Goethe spun out at Turn 2, and Forneroli dropped further behind Aaron to take sixth on Lap 12.
Championship contenders Bordoletto and Marti faced each other for seventh place. #23 Campos tried to pass the Brazilian in Turn 1, but a big lock-up sent him sailing throughout the run-off. Finally able to pass that lap, he quickly swept a second Trident.
Edgar began hunting Mansell at the tip of the points. Mansell locked-up at Turn 1 on lap 18, allowing the Briton to breeze away, with his MP team-mate Mari Boya dropping him out of the top 10.
With three laps remaining, Bordoletto did not face an uphill battle as he overtook teammate Fornaroli for seventh.
Up front, O’Sullivan was in a league of his own, extending his advantage lap-by-lap to take the win by 2.3 seconds over Pekanovic and equaling the all-time victory record in Formula 3, his third victory of the season and fourth in F3. Colapinto finished 6.8 seconds clear of fourth-placed Goethe.
Aron claimed a top-five finish as Marty’s storming finish finished sixth ahead of Bordoletto. Edgar wrestled away eighth place from Forneroli as Boya rounded out the top 10 points scorers.
Key quote – Zak O’Sullivan, PREMA Racing
„A good race, the tire degradation has been very high all weekend so it was kind of a managerial race. As a team we had good pace all weekend so I closed a gap early on. It was a bit tricky at the end as the tires started to fall off, but a great weekend for me and the team with a 1-2. I’m looking forward to Spa.
Championship Stages
Gabriel Bordoletto stands on the cusp of championship glory, his 13th consecutive points-mark taking him to 144 points. Zak O’Sullivan is now his closest rival, taking the PREMA Racing drivers’ tally to 101 with victory, one point ahead of Joseph Maria Marti. Paul Aaron is fourth, tied with teammate Dino Pecanovic with 94.
PREMA Racing has taken back control of the teams’ standings with a 15-point advantage at 289. The Trident moved into second place at 274, while the Hi-Tech Pulse-Aid came third at 154.
next
The 2023 Formula 3 season returns to action next weekend, with the championship heading to Spa-Francorchamps for Round 9 from July 28-30.