It may have been the same top three at the end, but it was a very different – and in many places dramatic - race in this afternoon’s third Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 race at Albert Park in Melbourne.
Once again it was Tim Macrow, Charlie Hollings and Marco Mapelli on the podium, but it took eight hard-fought laps for them to guarantee their positions at the end of the day.
Yorkshire’s Hollings made the best start, leaping from second on the grid to the race lead by the first corner in a repeat of Friday’s storming run to the opening turn.
Hollings and Macrow then engaged in a game out cat and mouse at the head of the 30-car field, both seemingly having fast race cars yet neither able to gap the field behind as they diced for the race lead.
After mounting pressure on the race one winner through the first four laps, Macrow got a strong run out of turn ten on the sixth lap of the race and drafted Hollings down the high speed back stretch.
The draft was enough to propel Macrow to the inside line into the high speed turn 11, the Victorian assuming the lead with one of the quickest overtaking moves of the day.
Despite holding close to Macrow for the remaining laps Hollings was unable to make a dent on the #29 Team BRM Dallara, that eventually won it’s second race of the weekend.
Behind the leaders a massive dice for the minor positions unfolded throughout the eight lap affair.
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