Lehdistötiedotteet - F3 Masters Season 31 Complete Review

F3 Masters Season 31 Complete Review

Hey guys, welcome to my review of the 4th season of MRC F3 Masters where we saw Dexter Morgan clinch the title after threats which became a 3 way showdown. After a mixed season of promises and disappointments for the Russ, we thought it was gonna be a walk in the park after his dominant display at Pau, not even rain could stop him in the Feature Race too, but at Monaco, he crashed out in the Sprint Race from a comfortable lead and recovered to 12th in the Feature Race while Gustav Zatacka after a lowkey start to his title challenge, announced himself with a win in the Sprint and only 3rd in the Feature where we saw Australian Ashley Bell shine, jumping Zatacka with a strategy masterclass and winning the race while holding off David Nalbandian and Zatacka in the process. Despite all the ruckess, Zatacka led the championship after Monaco from his main rival Alex Reis by only 1 point. Dexter Morgan had catching up to do and so did Michael Damon Novikov who crashed out of the Feature Race despite his 3 podiums from his first 3 races of the season. Michael Damon Novikov took pole at Zandvoort and put himself one step closer to winning a race but he lost out to Zatacka in the Sprint Race and then tried again the Feature only to get in a battle with Dexter Morgan and get jumped in the pits to concede the win completely. He might've been on level with Zatacka and Morgan when it came to points but jumps Alex Reis who once again had to do damage limitation at Zandvoort. Coming to Spa, Dexter Morgan was on pole again, but a brilliant fight for the race win saw Chloe de St. Germain push all the boys out of the way to become the 5th different winner this season, it was Alex Reis's turn to miss out on the race win this time. Dexter Morgan came back to take a pretty comfortable win from Cameron Pither who also starred in the Feature Race and a very needed comeback from Michael Damon Novikov to complete the podium and still keep his sniff in the title hunt. Coming into Macau now, Dexter Morgan took back the title lead that he lost at Monaco but everything was so tight, Gustav Zatacka wasn't far behind, nor was Michael Damon Novikov but Alex Reis was just about inside of it and came in as the underdog, but Macau never fails to deliver when it came to magic and someone is about to get knocked out of title contention. Rain came to play in the Sprint Race, Alex Reis who was the lowest out of the title contenders on the grid, made a brilliant decision to start on Wets while title rivals Dexter Morgan who started 2nd alongside from Petter Solberg Jr. who took pole, Michael Damon Novikov and Gustav Zatacka stayed on drys and guess how that played out, Alex Reis took his 4th 2nd place of the season to Ivan Kalinin who won the race and was now only 11 points behind Dexter Morgan and was in a favourable position for the Feature Race to possibly take home the title and write down a fairytale story that this series has ever seen, Dexter Morgan could only finish 12th while Gustav Zatacka and Michael Damon Novikov who couldn't score points after all the shambles saw their title chances go slim and the latter with it crushed. Into the final race, Alex Reis took the lead early on from Kalinin and led most of the first half while Dexter Morgan had to put the drive of his life slowly gaining places, Zatacka doing all he can and hope for a miracle while already eliminated Novikov doing bits, a safety car for Ron Scott's stricken car after a collision with Krystna Popsisilova saw the whole script change dramatically, Alex Reis came into the pits after the safety car came in and saw his title hopes and heart break massively, Dexter Morgan also stayed out but stayed out for a couple of more laps and came in and jumped Alex Reis to further make things worse for the Brazilian who did everything right until that safety car. Dexter Morgan left Reis for dust and even overtook other cars to further the distance. The race ended with Juca Macieira II taking the win after Michael Damon Novikov found the wall onto the start of the final lap after a brilliant drive from 19th to 2nd, Gustav Zatacka finished 2nd whose decent drive has been overshadowed by also a great drive by Dexter Morgan who has done more than enough to take the title. Zatacka's runner-up spot in the champ has been confirmed with Reis finishing all the way down in 9th. What a season it has been, while Dexter Morgan won the overall championship, it was a dominant U24 championship for Michael Damon Novikov after he just lost it to defending winner Bartolomeu Jarbas who couldn't finish inside the top 3 of it after a lowkey quiet season from him. Even Svilzester Szalonna's and Chloe de St. Germain's solid seasons weren't enough to stop Novikov, meanwhile in the U22 championship, Bernando Reckziegel might've not had big results like Tomek Pasek did but it was good enough to dominate and win the prize. Meanwhile Nadia Portocarrero defended her U19 championship as expected but couldn't defend her Females championship as Chloe de St. Germain dominated it, scored 70 out of the 80 points available, never been won in such a margin like that.
Now let's go to the Driver by Driver Review:

Dexter Morgan: champion, 156 points, best result: 1st (x4), Both Pau Races, Zandvoort Feature and Spa Feature
Dexter Morgan was always the fastest driver when it came to raw speed and I told you he needed to fix his consistency this season and he did, despite blunders at Monaco and Macau Sprint, he kept his head down very maturely and got the job done at the end, well done to him and he deserves alot of credit for that. Let's not forget the way he came back after that disaster at Monaco, just after that fairytale domination at Pau, even in the wet he pulled out such a gap too, just shows how hungry he was for the title, he did lose the lead in the title race but he got it back at the time it kinda mattered the most.

Gustav Zatacka: runner-up, 143 points, best result: 1st (x2), Monaco Sprint and Zandvoort Sprint
Gustav Zatacka came to this champ with high expectations and really brought the fight for the title with commanding wins at Monaco and Zandvoort and in the end, it just didn't go right at Macau Sprint Race but signed off his challenge with a brilliant comeback drive in the Feature Race to show why he deserved the champ too but he did enough to beat Alex Reis to runner-up spot.

Alex Reis: 3rd, 138 points, best result: 2nd (x4),, Pau Feature, Monaco Sprint, Spa Sprint and Macau Sprint
Do really feel sorry for him, to lose the title over a massive strategy mistake through no fault of your own when it comes to driving but still it's motorsport, everything has to come together and it didn't, came close to scoring wins on several occasions too and pull out some brave overtakes and fights too.

Michael Damon Novikov: 4th, 112 points, best result: 2nd (x3), Pau Sprint, both Zandvoort races, U24 champion
Another one who should've won this season, for sure he pulled out a great season from the bag and really stayed within the title fight, took pole at Zandvoort to only admit defeat to the fellow title rivals Zatacka and Morgan in respective races, did have some big errors that affected the challenge but he'll polish them through time and ready for next season, with U24 championship crossed out as he dominated it, he should go after that overall title now.

Razor Rushman III: 5th, 89 points, best result: 3rd Pau Sprint
Put in some decent qualifying laps to start very high up the grid even being on the front row, being thousandths short off poleon a couple of occasions but in the race, there was always something that doesn't go right from collisions and early race mistakes that prevented him from getting the results he wanted but otherwise he kept it out of the wall and brought it home every race, just gotta be ready for the wet races where his worst results came through and he'll be ready for that title next season.

Chloe de St-Germain: 6th, 78 points, best result: 1st Spa Sprint, Females champion
She really put her heart to that season, not only matching her older and tougher opponents but also beating them to a race win at Spa-Francorchamps, the man's track. Future championship material right here, you gotta really watch out for her too because you'll be hearing more of her when she gets to F1 too.

Juca Macieira II: 7th, 75 points, best result: 1st Macau Feature
Should've been up there for the title but he had disasters at Pau and Zandvoort where he was nowhere but he recovered the season nicely and ended it beautifully with a podium then a win at Macau.

Szilvester Szalonna: 8th, 74 points, best result: 4th (x2), Zandvoort Feature and Spa Sprint
I would've said it was a consistent season for the young Hungarian but he did crash out of both races at Monaco at the same Massenet corner but he was often inside that top 5.

Ashley Bell and Cameron Pither: 9th and 10th, 77 and 76 points respectively, Ashley's best result, win at Monaco Feature, Cameron's best result, 2nd at Spa Feature
The Australian duo of Ashley Bell and Cameron Pither both had solid and consistent seasons and there were races where they've shone, Ashley Bell pitting under the safety car, defending the win and holding off his rivals while saving fuel to make sure he brings the chequered flag home and also having a great meeting at Macau down to pure pace while Cameron impressed at the big boy F1 circuits of Monaco and Spa where he shown his sheer bravery and skill, also at Spa, he took home a 2nd place finish to Dexter Morgan.

Bartolomeu Jarbas: 11th, 61 points, best result: 5th at Monaco Sprint
The young Portoguese was really quiet this season but finished in the points every race once again, the main concern was that he didn't get the top results he did last season in those rainy races.

Ivan Kalinin: 12th, 58 points, best result: 1st, Macau Sprint
Started the season really well with a pair of 6th places until where he showed some dangerous pace at Monaco but he got a bit too cocky in both races unforunately, especially in that Feature Race where he threw away a hard earned win from the back of the grid and he managed to humble himself and redeem himself with a win at Macau. He's just gotta stay clean if he wants that title in the future because he's bloody fast and ruthless on that racetrack (yes, obviously on two wheels too).

Kenny Werdheim: 13th, 49 points, best result: 6th Macau Sprint
Scored points in almost every race bar 2, highlights was his comeback in the wet at Pau, 23rd to 9th and a solid meeting at Macau until a collision with Szalonna cut it short.

David Nalbandian: 14th, 43 points, best result: 2nd Monaco Feature
Had more to show than that 2nd place at Monaco, the Argentian Number 1 was in the points most of the races and also put in some other great drives at Spa Feature and Macau Feature where he came from 36th to 10th despite the fact he got it right in the mixed conditions in the Sprint but sadly crashed out. Can't wait to see more of him next season.

Petter Solberg Jr.: 15th, 38 points, best result: 4th Zandvoort Sprint
His bad luck this season was just exaggerating, that suspension failure from a decent result at Pau, collisions at Monaco, until his season kickstarted way too late at Zandvoort, took a pole at Macau and his season ended the way his season started, with a mechanical failure. See? He's defo got the pace to be in the title fight but his crew need to get it together next season.

Paolo Nannini: 16th, 34 points, best result: 4th Macau Sprint
Another unlucky season for the Italian where his decent races have been overshadowed by his bad luck but it was more to do with his inconsistency this time, just a bit messy with good races and bad races mixed together all the time but he'll probably want to avoid meetings like Zandvoort in the near future.

Karina Sette: 17th, 25 points, best result: 4th Macau Feature
Chloe de St-Germain might have the edge on her but likewise, she has proven to be up there with the big boys too, her drive at Macau was the answer and so was her meeting at Zandvoort but there are other races where she shown her fiery pace too but the results weren't there mainly due to the fact she didn't see the finish on those occasions.

John Lawley: 18th, 25 points, best result: 7th Macau Feature
After a season of just missing out on points, the Brit came back stronger and brought home more reasonable results to his name.

Francky Kowalski: 19th, 16 points, best result: 9th Macau Sprint
He was really quiet this season, was ending the season well at Macau until he saw the side of St-Germain's stoodstill car.

Bernando Reckziegel: 20th, 15 points, best result: 12th both Zandvoort races, U22 champion
Very quiet season this time, finished every race but at least he was able to bring home the U22 championship.

Ok guys, sorry for cutting it short, I got to eat now since I'm hungry and it's getting late but I'll be back later to do Part 2 so until then, have fun guys!
P.S.: I will send the coins for your awards ASAP, just let me get the fundings soon because my main priority is onto next season which is season 32 ;) will be announced soon, don't worry.

Link to Tables:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jBxrkc3XxXM_Z1ZxfS0QdOP1RAzzb3R1H-3_bVnEQTc/edit#gid=1886558448