Practice-
Oliver Goethe was straight back into action at Monza, going fastest of all in Free Practice with a 1:38.677. The Trident driver secured his lap just moments before a second session ending Red Flag, finishing just over a tenth clear of PREMA’s Paul Aron and Gabriele Mini for Hitech.
Rodin Carlin set the early benchmark with Oliver Gray putting in a 1:41.612 on his initial effort around the Temple of Speed.
As the 30 minute mark approached, the track got busier as queues of cars formed, all eager to get that all important slipstream.
Home hero, Leonardo Fornaroli took charge, dipping into the 1:39s before Jenzer’s Taylor Barnard went over two tenths clear of the Trident.
The first Red Flag was brought out by Nikita Bedrin as the second Jenzer stopped on track. The clock continued to tick down and running resumed with 16 minutes left.
Gregoire Saucy took ART up into the top spot on the restart, clocking in a 1:39.276 to go eight thousandths faster than Fornaroli. Piecing together a perfect lap was far from easy.
Mini then broke into the 1:38s but the Hitech driver was immediately beaten by Goethe and Aron. The flurry proved to be the final attempts of the morning, as MP Motorsport’s Mari Boya spun off into the barriers at Turn 11 inside the final six minutes.
Qualifying-
Oliver Goethe secured his first pole position of the season at Monza for Trident confirming teammate Gabriel Bortoleto as the 2023 Formula 3 Drivers’ Champion in the process.
Running in the gap as one of two drivers on track after the second of three red flag appearances, the German driver posted a 1:38.909 to go less than a tenth clear of Van Amersfooort Racing’s Caio Collet and Paul Aron in third.
It was all about the waiting game in the early phase of running as everyone tried to avoid being the first to jump. Aron led a train of cars out on track at the green light but the field swiftly filtered back into the pits following installation laps.
Queues immediately formed around the track at the 23 minute mark. Situated right in the middle of a train of cars out of the Lesmo chicane, Ido Cohen was sent spinning after Rodin Carlin teammate Oliver Gray hit the rear of the car bringing out the first Red Flag.
Once running resumed, there was no time to waste. Hungry to keep his title hopes alive, Aron went fastest of all with a 1:39.043. The PREMA driver’s effort didn’t stay top for long, as Collet leapfrogged him into provisional pole but there was little to separate the top three with 0.054s covering Collet, Aron and Goethe.
The session was Red Flagged again seconds later, after a spin for Joshua Dufek left the Campos Racing driver stuck in the gravel trap at Variante della Roggia.
When the session resumed with 15 minutes left, Goethe and Bortoleto were the only two cars to gamble on a run without the benefit of a slipstream. It served well as Goethe managed to improve on his earlier effort to go top.
Opting for another attempt, the Trident driver went off into the barriers at Turn 7 with a third and final red flag deployed, nobody got an opportunity to improve as the session was not resumed.
As Championship contenders, Aron and Josep Maria Marti were unable to secure the two points awarded for pole, Bortoleto’s job was done to claim the title.
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