Home Formula 3Brazil F3 La Rocca benefits from more Guimaraes woe in pre-final

La Rocca benefits from more Guimaraes woe in pre-final

by Valentin Khorounzhiy

Roberto La Rocca picked up his second win of the weekend in the pre-final at the 2013 Formula 3 Brazil Open event at Interlagos, benefiting from another retirement for main rival Felipe Guimaraes.

Ex-GP3 man Guimaraes took the lead from polesitter La Rocca at the start but failed to complete the first lap after an engine problem. La Rocca went on to take a comfortable victory.

With Guimaraes absent and La Rocca virtually out of reach, most of the action in the race took part between the rest of the drivers who fought to occupy the other podium positions.

Dmitry Suranovich managed to keep second place for a big chunk of the race, yet the “Class B” drivers were hot on his heels until both Gustavo Lima and Eduardo Banzoli passed him on lap nine. Four laps later, Suranovich had an incident, giving up fourth position to Raphael Raucci and subsequently jumping into the pits.

On lap 15, Banzoli overtook Lima, finally shaping the podium for the race. Raucci finished fourth while Suranovich crossed the line two laps down on La Rocca.

The results of this race determine the starting grid for the main event – as such, La Rocca will start the fourth and final race from pole with Banzoli lined up alongside him. Lima and Raucci will make up the second row, while Suranovich and Guimaraes will make up row three.

Race three results
Pos Driver Team Cls Time/Gap Laps
1 Roberto La Rocca Hitech Racing Brazil A 30m55.156s 19
2 Eduardo Banzoli Capital Motorsport B +29.169s 19
3 Gustavo Lima Cesario Formula Jr. B +33.228s 19
4 Raphael Raucci RR Racing Team A +47.301s 19
5 Dmitry Suranovich Hitech Racing Brazil A +2 laps 17
6 Felipe Guimaraes Hitech Racing Brazil A +19 laps 0