Day 2-
It was a great start for the all-Van Amersfoort front row, with Del Pino keeping the lead ahead of Deligny, while Badoer got ahead of Noah Stromsted to take P3 at Turn 1.
It was a bad start for the home favourite Wharton, however, as having started fifth, he was down to P8 by the end of the first lap. The PREMA Racing driver ran deep into the first corner after trying to avoid colliding with the rear of Stromsted’s car.
On to Lap 2, Mattia Colnaghi ran wide and into the gravel at the exit of Turn 12. The MP Motorsport driver had been battling with Maciej Gladysz for P6, but was now at the back of the field after returning to the track.
By the start of Lap 6, Del Pino had built a 1.3s lead over Deligny, who was coming under pressure from Badoer and Stromsted. The top four had built a nice buffer and were two seconds clear of Taito Kato in P5.
Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu then went around the outside of Nicola Lacorte at Turn 9 to move up to ninth.
Just ahead of Ugochukwu, Wharton and Louis Sharp went wheel-to-wheel throughout the opening sector on Lap 8 but made contact at the entry to Turn 6, which sent them both into the barrier.
With both the cars and the track needing to be cleared and the barriers having to be repaired, the red flags were waved, before the stewards later confirmed that the race would not be resumed.
This gave VAR their second consecutive victory in the Melbourne Sprint Race with Del Pino winning ahead of Deligny, while Badoer took a maiden podium in third.
As a result of more than 25% of the racing laps having been completed, only the top five are awarded points, leaving Stromsted in P4 and Kato in P5 as the only other point scorers.
Day 3-
Polesitter Nael kept the lead into Turn 1, while Slater got ahead of Ugochukwu to take second place at the opening corner.
Slater’s strong opening lap continued as he tried to go around the outside of Nael at Turn 3 only for the Campos driver to shut the door.
Kato was also on the move for ART Grand Prix, as he managed to make a move around the outside of Trident’s Stromsted at the penultimate corner for P8.
On to Lap 2, Ugochukwu was within one second of Slater and overtook his rival at Turn 9 to get back to P2. Ugochukwu then closed in on Nael rapidly after and once again made a move at Turn 9, this time to take the lead of the race.
Just behind them, Kato and Mattia Colnaghi went side-by-side through Turns 9 and 10, with the ART driver taking P7.
Out in front, the top three had separated themselves and were two seconds clear of Maciej Gladysz at the start of Lap 8.
Brando Badoer and Nicola Lacorte had been battling for P5 with the former having lost the place to the DAMS Lucas Oil driver earlier in the lap. As he looked to regain the position, he spun at the final corner, dropping him down to P12.
The Safety Car was then called upon on Lap 9 with Nandhavud having found the barrier at Turn 12.
Racing then resumed at the start of Lap 12, and Ugochuwku pulled out a 1.1s gap to Nael, who was coming under pressure from Slater after running wide at the exit of Turn 4.
The Campos driver was holding on to P2, but Gladysz lost P4 to Lacorte at Turn 9, while Bruno del Pino was up to eighth ahead of Colagni after making a move at the same corner.
Lacorte was charging towards the podium and was right on the back of Slater at the start of Lap 15, and before taking P3 on the brakes at Turn 12.
Moments later, Nael was given a five second time penalty for a false start.
Slater though was struggling on Lap 15, coming under pressure from teammate Stromsted, who had just overtaken Gladysz for P5 at Turn 12.
Lacorte’s hopes of a podium were damaged on the next lap, losing out to Slater, before contact with Stromsted gave him front wing damage. The Stewards then handed the DAMS driver a five second penalty for a false start, while Stromsted was later handed a 10 second time penalty for causing a collision with the Italian.
Slater had recovered things nicely and was within 0.5s of Nael for P2 by the start of Lap 20. The Trident driver used the DRS to overtake the Frenchman at Turn 9 to get up to second.
Just as Nael was fighting Stromsted for the final spot on the podium, the Safety Car was called upon with Woohyun Shin having pulled over at the side of the road with rear suspension damage.
The track could not be cleared in time for a restart with the race ending under Safety Car conditions, leaving Ugochukwu to take a first victory in F3 ahead of Slater. With Nael and Stromsted’s penalties taking effect, Kato inherited P3.
Jordan's Track Talk 
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