The third round of the Formula 3 Asian Series ended today in Abu Dhabi. Having gone well in the two previous rounds, the Ferrari Driver Academy’s Dino Beganovic finished second in Race-2 at the Yas Marina Circuit, but unfortunately retired in the third race. For the 17 year-old Swede this was his final appearance in Formula 3 Asian Series as he now returns to Europe to prepare for a season in the European Formula Regional Championship.
Race-1. Dino didn’t get the best of starts in the first race, dropping from the second row to sixth. The Safety Car was deployed immediately because of a car parked on track and at the restart, Beganovic moved up to fifth. On the following lap, he got past Roy Nissany to go fourth, taking the chequered flag in that position.
Podium. Dino started the second race from fifth and he had a perfect getaway, charging past Isack Hadjar and Lorenzo Fluxa to go third into the first corner, behind the teammate Guan Yu Zhou and the leader Pierre-Louis Chovet. Beganovic defended his position in the early stages and then built up a cushion between him and his pursuers. The Safety Car came out twice and the race only finally got underway with three minutes remaining, leaving time for just one flying lap before the chequered flag.
Good start. “My start was very good,” said Dino on the podium. “It had not gone that well in Race-1 and I concentrated to make sure I did everything correctly. We decided to save the best tyres for the last race of the weekend so it was very important for me in this race to hang onto third place. The Safety Car helped, I was a bit worried about the restart but it was all fine.”
Collision. Beganovic lined up fifth for the third and last race, but any hope of ending his Formula 3 Asian Series experience on a high note was washed out on the opening lap following a collision with Cem Bolukbasi, which knocked them both out of the race. It was bad luck for Dino who took a knock on his right thumb, but no damage was done.
Good form. Beganovic’s short visit to the Formula 3 Asian series went well. He was making his debut with the Tatuus car and picked up four podium finishes from nine starts and was fifth in the current standings behind far more experienced drivers. Now Dino begins preparing for the Formula Regional by Alpine series, which gets underway on 17 and 18 March with a general test at Imola.