LUKE MAINTAINS TITLE CHALLENGE WITH IMOLA RECOVERY

Luke Browning remains firmly in the mix towards the sharp end of the FIA Formula 3 Championship standings after a fine drive through to fourth in the feature race at Imola.

Having topped the standings following the opening meeting of the campaign following a fine maiden win at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain, Luke again impressed at Albert Park in Australia last time out as he showed strong pace throughout and picked up a best result of fourth.

That left the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver sitting level on points with Leonardo Fornaroli at the top of the standings heading into the opening European race of the campaign at the famed Italian circuit.

The weekend started in positive fashion for the talented young Briton as he set the second quickest time in free practice, leading the way for a large part of the session before a late lap from Oliver Goethe saw him nip ahead.

A hard fought qualifying session saw Luke set the tenth best time, although he would be bumped up a place on the grid for the feature race when Alex Dunne was excluded from the results.

With the top twelve on the grid reversed for the sprint race, Luke lined up on the second row of the grid for the start for what would prove to be a chaotic weekend opener with multiple safety car periods restricting the amount of racing that was available.

Running in P6 after the final safety car period, Luke was on course to move into the championship lead on his own but when he tried to make a move on Kacper Sztuka for position at Tosa, contact between the pair saw Luke end up in the gravel and forced him into retirement.

Despite that, Luke retained a share of the championship lead going into the feature race, where the Williams Academy racer produced a composed drive to work his way through the order to cross the line in fourth place, missing out on a podium spot by just three-tenths of a second.

With title rival Leonardo Fornaroli being the man ahead on the road, Luke now sits second in the standings but is only three points off stop spot heading to Monaco next weekend for the biggest event on the schedule around the streets of Monte Carlo.