After some chaos on the Spa-Francorchamps track, Formula 3 got a new winner. Jin Nakamura had a clean race to bring his first victory home, while the championship contenders had a rough one.
Noah Strømsted started from the pitlane after yesterday’s penalty. The start went well with both Rodin of and Clerot keeping their advantage. Behind, Enzo Deligny locked his tyres, but no accident was made. Nakamura managed to overtake Clerot for second place. It was complete chaos behind at Les Combes, with Yamakoshi having contact with a Redbull livery because he locked his tyres. Ugochukwu and Slater going into the gravels together. The championship leader managed to regain the track. The safety car was called, and Ugochukwu suffered from suspension damage.
Mistakes and battled all over the place
Brando Badoer made the restart and decided to do it before the last chicane, giving a great battle for the tow even before the starting line. Jin Nakamura did the same thing as in the first lap and overtook at Les Combes for the lead. Ugo Ugochukwu went back on track, probably to collect some data for the race. Louis Sharp got pushed into the grass and almost lost his car. Alessandro Giusti overtook for P9. Pedro Clerot tried to overtake his teammate Badoer at the last chicane but the Italian kept his position.
Mattia Colnaghi defended hard against Taito Kato, and they almost made contact. Théophile Naël seemed to have a great rhythm as he overtook Kato for P5. Yamakoshi took a 10-seconds penalty. Rivera and Taponen also almost made contact at Les Combes. The MP Motorsport driver managed to overtake the Red Bull Junior driver for P7, but quickly lost his position again. Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi went into the gravel and destroyed the straight mode panel, calling the second safety car of the race.
A new winner
Jin Nakamura at the restart waited for the middle of the chicane but took the curb and almost spun. Brando Badoer kept close to the leader but couldn’t overtake yet. Kato behind overtook Naël for P5, with no DRS, but the battle was not over with the French trying to take the position back. However, with ART Grand Prix forgetting something on the grid before the formation lap, Kato might take a penalty for procedure infringement. Jin Nakamura won for the first time in Formula 3, in front of Brando Badoer and Pedro Clerot.