The Italian came through from P3 to take the lead and could not be caught once he did. Lacorte went on to win ahead of MP Motorsport’s Tuukka Taponen and Taito Kato for ART Grand Prix.

In the title fight, Freddie Slater retired with an issue, while Ugo Ugochukwu went from the back of the field to eighth, with 15 points now separating the top two going to the final round in Madrid.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was a great start for polesitter Slater, while Kanato Le held Lacorte off in the opening few corners to maintain second place.

Behind them, Ernesto Rivera overtook Kato for P5, with Alessandro Giusti right on the back of the Sprint Race winner.

Further back, Ugochukwu was spun around at Turn 1 after being hit in the rear by Campos Racing teammate Théophile Nael. This dropped the American from P19 to P29.

With the DRS activated, Le was right on the back of Slater on Lap 3, but the Safety Car halted his hopes of an overtake. Fionn McLaughlin collided with Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi at the opening corner, bringing an end to the Hitech driver’s race.

Racing resumed on Lap 5 and Slater led the field away, with Kato going around the outside of Lacorte at Turn 1 to take P4. Pedro Clerot then did the same move on Taponen for P7.

ART were flying once again, as Le used the DRS to get ahead of Slater. Kato then did the same on Rivera for P3, with Lacorte following him through.

The Championship leader lost a lot of time to Le, and going into the Roggia chicane, Kato took second place from him, as Lacorte relegated him to fourth a few corners later.

Campos’ day was going from bad to worse as Rivera, having hit the rear of Lacorte at the Ascari chicane, had a damaged front wing, with the team bringing him in on Lap 8.

Lacorte was now the driver on the move, overtaking Kato for second, and closing the gap to Le to 0.7s. Slater’s struggles continued as Taponen got ahead of the TRIDENT at Turn 1.

On to Lap 9, and Nael was given a 10-second time penalty for the incident with Ugochukwu. Moments later, he came into the pitlane to change a damaged front wing after hitting the rear of Noah Stromsted at the second chicane.

Lap 10 saw another change for the lead as Lacorte took P1 from Le, with Kato then relegating his teammate to P3 at Turn 1.

Taponen was next to charge through, as he made a double overtake on Le and Kato to get up to second. His MP teammate Alessandro Giusti then overtook Slater down the main straight, with Hiyu Yamakoshi relegating the TRIDENT to seventh.

In the title fight, the British driver was on the radio saying he had to retire the car with an issue, as Ugochukwu, having been spun to the back of the field, was up to P14 at the start of Lap 13.

The American gained a position after Jin Nakamura ran through the gravel and spun at the final corner. The hitech driver was able to continue on but dropped to P22.

Slater’s fears of an issue were true as his rear right tyre came off at the Ascari chicane, causing him to stop on track. Rivera also parked his car at Turn 1 with an issue. With both cars needing to be cleared, the Safety Car was brought out.

Racing was back underway on Lap 17 as the leading drivers maintained position, while Ugochukwu gained two places, going from 13th to 11th – and on the edge of the points.

Lacorte had done a great job, as he was 0.7s clear of Taponen, who was 1.4s ahead of Kato going on to Lap 18.

Yevan David was once again flying and got up to fifth at Parabolica after overtaking Giusti at the final corner.

Ugochukwu was into the top 10 on Lap 20, overtaking Enzo Deligny, while Lacorte was 0.9s clear of Taponen, with the MP driver struggling to stay within DRS range.

But with Fernando Barrichello having stopped on track at Turn 1, the yellow flags were out, with the DRS now disabled.

On to the final lap, and Taponen was struggling to reel in Lacorte, as David overtook Le for P4 at the final corner.

But at the front, it was a first FIA Formula 3 victory for Lacorte – who became the first Italian to win on home soil and the 13th different winner of the season to set a new F3 record.

Taponen achieved MP’s first podium of the season in P2, while Kato followed up his Sprint victory with a third place. David was fourth ahead of Le, with Yamakoshi sixth ahead of Stromsted.

Ugochukwu put in a sublime drive from last to finish in eighth, as Deligny took P9 ahead of James Wharton.

KEY QUOTE – Nicola Lacorte, DAMS Lucas Oil

“I knew I was going to be fast here in Monza but I didn’t expect to win. The race was just perfect, good pace, that’s we deserve, since the beginning of the year, to show what the team and I are capable of.”

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Freddie Slater continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship on 141 points, while Ugo Ugochukwu closes the deficit in second, going onto 126 points. In third is Ernesto Rivera with 76 points, one ahead of teammate Théophile Nael while Brando Badoer and Taito Kato are level on points in fifth and sixth places with 71 apiece.

In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing remain at the top with 277 ahead of TRIDENT with 213. ART Grand Prix and Van Amersfoort Racing are level on 155 points, while MP Motorsport complete the top five with 131.

UP NEXT

The drivers will now head to Madrid for the final round of the season, with the Spanish venue hosting an extra race from September 11-13.