It’s shaping up to be a stellar 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship for Mumbai Falcons. The Indian team enjoyed a nearly perfect Round 3 at the Dubai Autodrome with Sebastian Montoya, Dino Beganovic and Arthur Leclerc scoring a win each.
Race 1 even saw Mumbai Falcons lock out the podium, becoming the first-ever Indian team to do so in any FIA single-seater championship. The team has partnered with junior formula stalwarts Prema Racing for this season and is fielding three Ferrari Driver Academy racers.
- Arthur Leclerc leads championship
- Montoya, Beganovic and Leclerc score a win each at Round 3
Mumbai Falcons lock out podium in Race 1
Sebastian Montoya, son of former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, qualified on pole for Race 1 – his third pole position in a row. He held off pressure from Isaac Hadjar to hold on to the lead into Turn 1.
He set about opening a gap when the race was red flagged briefly to recover a stricken car. Once the race got underway again, Hadjar tried making a move for the lead, but he and Leonardo Fornaroli were handed a five second penalty for a grid infringement. This allowed Mumbai Falcons’ other two drivers, Arthur Leclerc and Dino Beganovic, to move up to second and third respectively, handing the team a 1-2-3 result.
Beganovic wins Race 2
It was Beganovic who won the reverse grid Race 2, battling his way up the order from 8th on the grid. He was already up to fourth place on the first lap and slowly began to pick off the top three. Soon, Leclerc also joined in on the battle for the podium.
Beganovic ended up taking victory ahead of polesitter Michael Belov of Evans GP and Leclerc.
Leclerc takes championship lead
Leclerc battled with Pepe Marti and Dilano van’t Hoff to pick up his second win this season. This means that halfway through the 2022 season, the Ferrari junior driver (and younger brother of F1 driver Charles Leclerc) leads the championship by 35 points from Marti.
Montoya is third in the standings, but Round 3 was his final outing this season, and he will be replaced by Oliver Bearman for the remaining two rounds. Mumbai Falcons’ clean sweep also helps the team extend its championship lead.
The next round will also take place at the Dubai Autodrome on February 11-13.
Dipan Sur
