Jul 9

Jul 9 Maiden Formula 3 victory for Oliver Goethe in Trident 1-2 at Silverstone

Oliver Goethe cruised home to victory ahead of teammate Leonardo Fornaroli as a late burst of rain challenged the FIA Formula 3 field around Silverstone.

Oliver Goethe celebrates his maiden FIA Formula 3 victory. *(Formula Motorsport Limited)*

Goethe kept up with Fornaroli in the opening stages as the Trident drivers stretched their legs, passing his teammate just after half race distance before the rain began to fall and the safety car neutralised the race.

The Danish-German driver held the lead and crossed the chequered line ahead of his teammate, with Pepe Martí completing the podium.

“I’m delighted to be honest," said Goethe.

"It was a really tricky race, it started raining at the end and we stayed on slicks. It was a scary one but so happy with the win here."

Goethe leads teammate Leonardo Fornaroli in the Formula 3 feature race at Silverstone. *(Formula Motorsport Limited)*

Fornaroli held the lead from pole at the start as Martí briefly passed Goethe for second, but the eventual winner held on throughout the lap and regained the position.

It was three-wide at stages behind them, with Gabriel Bortoleto past Christian Mansell for fourth, before Paul Aron swung past both of them at Brooklands.

An off for Caio Collet after contact with Jonny Edgar was followed by a spin for Luke Browning, who survived a wild ride through the gravel after contact with Hugh Barter out of the final corner.

The safety car emerged, not for the last time, with racing resuming on lap seven.

Fornaroli was confident in the lead at the restart ahead of his teammate, the Trident pair with a slight advantage ahead of the following four drivers in the lead pack, with Martí, Aron, Mansell, and Bortoleto all less than two seconds behind the driver in front.

Aron was able to cycle his way to the front of the peloton, while Goethe caught the rear of his teammate and made the decisive pass for the lead.

Roberto Faria went off into the barriers while battling with Tommy Smith as rain began to fall, the Australian driver diving into the pits for wet tyres as the safety car emerged once again.

Goethe held on for victory in the damp conditions ahead of his teammate, with Collet rising into the points on a charge on the final lap.

His Van Amersfoort Racing teammate Tommy Smith was the biggest gainer, the only driver on wet tyres able to move up from 28th to 11th on the final lap and narrowly out of the points behind Grégoire Saucy..

Bortoleto holds his lead of the standings after finishing sixth, with Martí second and slightly making up the gap to the leader, the pair on 128 and 92 points respectively. Gabriele Minì is third on 77 points, tied with Paul Aron but ahead on countback.

Chrsitan Mansell is the lead Australian in the championship, thirteenth after a podium in the sprint race and finishing fifth in Sunday's feature race. Hugh Barter was 15th on Sunday, with Tommy Smith narrowly out of the points for his best finish of the season so far.

The FIA Formula 3 championship returns in Budapest, 21-23 July.

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2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship - British Grand Prix Feature Race Result