In a tricky sprint race in Austria, Louis Sharp has recovered to fifteenth position while taking the fastest lap in a closely-fought twenty-one lap battle.
After a difficult qualifying session left the Kiwi starting in twentieth, Sharp had his work set out as he took to the grid for the start of the fourth round. Teammate James Wharton started on sprint-race pole, with Ernesto Rivera alongside.
At the green flag, Wharton got away well and was able to pull away from Rivera. By the time the cars had reached Turn 3, the yellow flag was brought out for a Freddie Slater, which was soon upgraded to a full safety car.
The race was resumed on lap three, where Sharp had moved up to seventeenth. Wharton got away well to cover off Rivera, while Sharp moved back slightly to eighteenth.
Sharp soon got past Theo Nael and moved back into seventeenth. Throughout the field, drivers started to trade positions around the short Austrian circuit.
By lap ten, Wharton held a second lead over Rivera, while Sharp had moved into sixteenth with the fastest lap. Sharp remained half a second behind Mattia Colnaghi, with Nael over a second behind the Kiwi.
Wharton and Rivera soon started to clash wheels on lap eleven, where the stewards took note of some very confident moves.
By lap fifteen, the top six closed to be within half a second of each other, and Rivera soon took over the lead. At this time, Sharp had closed within three tenths of Colnaghi, while still being the fastest driver on track.
Sharp soon moved back to sixteenth as Nicola Lacorte got past the Kiwi. At the front, Rivera still held the lead over a fast Wharton, with the pack behind closing in.
As Lacorte moved forward, Sharp closed back up to Colnaghi and was within two tenths with two laps to go.
Out front, Rivera held a lead over Wharton, as Clemont and Nakamura pressured the Australian. Wharton, while under pressure, went wide on the final lap, allowing the two drivers behind to get past, demoting the Australian to fourth.
Meanwhile, Sharp had closed in enough as Nael and Xie started to battle behind, leading Sharp to move up into fifteenth, where he would cross the line.
The Kiwi also took the fastest lap with a 1.23.521, showing his strong pace mid field.
Rivera was able to hold on for his first win of the season, ahead of Pedro Clerot, and Jin Nakamura.
Formula 3 will now hit the track for their feature race of the weekend, with Sharp hitting the track at 6:40pm.
Header Image: Prema Racing
