FIA Formula 3 Feature Race Report – Wharton and Sharp score points on strong weekend for PREMA

James Wharton and Louis Sharp both scored points in a dramatic Budapest Feature Race on Sunday morning, as PREMA Racing closed out the weekend with a double points haul finishing eighth and ninth respectively and a strong team result, with José Garfias finishing twelfth on track. Following the conclusion of the race, Nael received two post-race time penalties totalling 15 seconds, promoting Wharton to seventh, Sharp to eighth and Garfias to eleventh in the final classification.

The race was shaped by multiple Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car periods, which repeatedly reset the field and made overtaking opportunities precious. Wharton, Sharp and Garfias made the most of the early laps, picking off rivals one by one in the opening stint before managing tyres carefully through the second half of the race.

Wharton scored points for the second consecutive race after P8 in the Sprint yesterday, Sharp made excellent progress from P19 to finish eighth and Garfias who ended eleventh, also made progress through the field and contributed to what was PREMA’s most positive race weekend of the season.

The team heads into the summer break on a positive weekend. It has been an intense and demanding first half of the campaign for the entire PREMA squad, and the team are all looking forward to a well-deserved summer break, ready to go again when testing resumes in Madrid on 24-25 August, before Round 8 at Monza from 4-6 September.

#21 – JAMES WHARTON
“Overall I’m quite happy with the race day today, we maximised both races and got points for the first time in both races so have to be happy with that.

“Now we reset for the summer break and go again in Madrid for the test and try and improve qualifying. Then we will come back stonger in Monza in a couple of weeks time.”

#20 – LOUIS SHARP
“It was a good race going from P19 to P8. I did some really good overtakes. Had a good first few laps and then just picked them off one by one from there.

“Really happy with the result for the team, it was a good result for all three drivers. I struggled a little bit at the end with the tyres, I felt like I was pushing quite hard at the start, so paid the price for that a little bit later on. With how difficult it is to overtake here we had to be on the attack and it’s nice to finish the weekend on a high.”

#22 – JOSE GARFIAS
“It was a positive race again, we had a good first couple of laps and moved up some positions, then tried to make the most of it through the rest of the race whilst also trying to manage the tyres.

“Unfortunately at the end we lost one position due to a car that was just faster than us and I couldn’t defend it in the last two laps.

James Wharton e Louis Sharp hanno entrambi conquistato punti nell’emozionante Feature Race di Budapest di domenica, contribuendo all’ottimo risultato finale del team PREMA Racing, con Wharton settimo e Sharp ottavo. José Garfias ha chiuso al dodicesimo posto. Dopo la gara, Nael ha ricevuto due penalità che hanno modificato le posizioni finali, promuovendo Wharton al settimo posto, Sharp all’ottavo e Garfias all’undicesimo.

La gara è stata caratterizzata da numerosi periodi di Safety Car e Virtual Safety Car, che hanno rimescolato le carte e reso rari i sorpassi. Wharton, Sharp e Garfias hanno sfruttato al meglio i primi giri per guadagnare posizioni e hanno gestito con efficacia le gomme nella parte finale della gara. I punti conquistati da Wharton rappresentano il secondo piazzamento a punti consecutivo dopo l’ottavo posto ottenuto nella precedente Sprint Race, mentre Sharp è risalito dal diciannovesimo all’ottavo posto. Anche Garfias ha guadagnato posizioni, contribuendo a quello che è stato il miglior weekend di gara della stagione per PREMA.

Il team si avvicina alla pausa estiva con ottimismo, dopo una prima metà di stagione impegnativa. Attendono con impazienza le prossime sessioni di test a Madrid, il 24 e 25 agosto, e sono pronti per l’ottavo round a Monza, dal 4 al 6 settembre.

Wharton si è detta soddisfatta della giornata di gara e impaziente per i prossimi test. Sharp si è detto contento dei progressi compiuti dalla diciannovesima posizione e ha riconosciuto la difficoltà di correre a Budapest. Anche Garfias ha espresso un giudizio positivo sulla sua gara, gestendo al meglio l’usura degli pneumatici, nonostante la perdita di una posizione negli ultimi giri.