Round 3 of the 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship came to an end and Indian team Mumbai Falcons had an amazing weekend after winning all three races at the Dubai Autodrome. All the Mumbai Falcons drivers were showing great pace right from the start and it resulted in the first race ending with a completely Mumbai Falcons podium finish. Sebastian Montoya won the first race with Dino Beganovic winning the second with Arthur Leclerc winning the final race of the round. However, this also marked Sebastian Montoya’s last weekend at the Formula Regionals, making Arthur Leclerc the leader of the championship. With that said, let us look at how the weekend unfolded at the Mumbai Flacons camp.
Race 1
Montoya started the race from P1 after he set the fastest lap in the first qualifying session. Even though his race start was not the best one, he managed to keep the lead of the race heading into Turn 1. Hadjar, from second on the grid made a fantastic getaway at the start, to find himself alongside Montoya, however, the Colombian driver did not succumb to the pressure from the Red Bull Junior driver.
Further behind, Dino and Arthur found themselves climbing up the order immediately and were fourth and sixth respectively by the end of lap 1. While Montoya began to open a lead over Hadjar, Beganovic found himself fighting for a podium spot with Leonardo Fornaroli of team Hitech. The race was however red-flagged briefly to recover a stricken car.
Once underway again, Hadjar began to pile the pressure on Montoya but was soon given a 5-second penalty along with Fornaroli in third for a grid infringement. This opened the door for Leclerc and Beganovic to grab the remaining podium spots after fighting hard and making their way up the order.
Sebastian Montoya said, “It was a long and hard race, but I’m obviously happy to win and of course very happy to see ourselves lock out the top spots on the podium! We are looking forward to many more podiums.”
Race 2
After a brilliant result in the first race, team Mumbai Falcons got straight back to business on Sunday morning winning the first race of the day and this time it was in the hands of Dino Beganovic. He won his first race of the season by fighting his way up the order to score a brilliant victory for the Indian team.
Race two, being a reverse grid saw the three Mumbai Falcons cars starting in eighth, ninth and tenth. With Michel Belov and Leonardo Fornaroli on the front row, the team knew they needed to make quick work of the grid ahead.
Beganovic had a great start off the line, moving from P8 to P4 on the first lap and then slowly began to pick off the top 3. Meanwhile, Leclerc made steady progress and soon found himself in the battle for the top 3 as well.
When the Chequered flag dropped, it was Beganovic followed by Belov and Leclerc, giving the Indian team another great finish. Sebastian Montoya finished the race in P9.
Race 3
Starting together from the second row of the grid, Arthur Leclerc and Sebastian Montoya once again had their work cut out for the final race of the weekend. Leclerc was quick to pounce on Pepe Marti, who took the lead from Pinnacle teammate Dilano Van’t Hoff.
Leclerc as well wasted no time in getting past Van’t hoff to chase after Marti Once again. After a brief safety car period, Leclerc was hot on Marti’s heels and wasted no time in getting past him for the lead.
From there on, it was smooth sailing for the youngster, taking the chequered flag in style and signing off with a third win from three races for Mumbai Falcons. The team continues to extent their lead in the team standings, while Arthur Leclerc leads the drivers standings from Montoya and Beganovic.
Arthur Leclerc leads the driver’s championship with 131 points after nine races. He is followed by Pepe Marti with 96 points and Sebastian Montoya with 92 points. Beganovic sits in P4 with 88 points. In the team championship, Mumbai Falcons India Racing lead with 218 points , followed by Pinnacle Motorsport with 131 points and Hitech Grand Prix with 130 points. Round 4 of the championship will start on Feburary 12, at the Dubai Autodrome circuit. For more news and updates from the world of motorsport, stay tuned to evo India!