The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy’s Swede took his maiden Formula 3 win in Melbourne. Dino’s victory in the Feature Race was down to perfect race and tyre management.
Dino Beganovic has often come close to his first Formula 3 win but it had eluded him for various reasons. However today in Albert Park, in the second round of the season, he employed all the tools in his repertoire, doing a great job of dealing with the tricky task of managing his tyres. Dino displayed an impeccable mix of performance, aggression and mechanical sympathy to go from third on the grid to first past the chequered flag. “The win was down to teamwork,” stressed Beganovic. “Everyone at Prema did a great job and I felt really comfortable in the car throughout the race. I will never forget this day.” Dino also picked up the point for fastest race lap and he now moves up to fourth in the standings on 28 points.
Feature Race. The field got away cleanly, with Beganovic maintaining third place off the line prior to a long six laps run behind the Safety Car. Positions remained unchanged as the race resumed with all drivers careful to look after their tyres. At half-distance, Dino picked up the pace, passing Gabriele Mini on lap 12, taking the lead two laps leader as he passed poleman Leonardo Fornaroli. Once in the lead, Beganovic did a perfect job of managing the race, looking after his tyres while still keeping ahead of Fornaroli. In the final two laps, he pushed on to put himself outside of the DRS range of his pursuers, a small advantage that meant he had a comfortable final few corners to the chequered flag, able to celebrate this well deserved first win in the category.
Sprint Race. Yesterday’s first race of the weekend saw Beganovic start from tenth, because of the reversed grid order. “I didn’t get a good start,” he admitted. “I lost two places but got back in the top ten at half-distance while managing tyre degradation that was much higher than expected.” Following a Safety Car period, there was a three lap sprint with Beganovic moving up to sixth place, passing Mini right at the end. However, he later lost his five points as he was given a five second penalty for an overtaking move deemed too aggressive, which dropped him to 13th.