Formula 2 returns for the final round of testing in Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before rolling out for the season opener.
Green Lights for The Final Morning Session
AIX Racing and Invicta Racing are the first to make their track appearance. Van Amersfoort’s Nico Varrone sets the first lap time of the day with a 1:28.136, followed by teammate Rafael Villagómez.
Campos Racing’s Pursuit of Faster Lap Times.
Campos’ Noel León leads a 1-2 with teammate Nikola Tsolov with a lap time of 1:25.173. This time was improved to a 1:23.769, competing with the 1:23.630 set by Rafael Câmara on day 2. Campos remain as the benchmark team right now currently, but it is Tsolov leading the field. He posts a 1:23.654, 0.115s ahead of Leon in P2 position now.
Chaos on the Track
Varrone brought out the red flag after finding himself in the gravel at the final corner. Following the green flag, Villagómez was off in the final corner. Time setter Leon stopped on the track mere minutes after the second green flag.
Final Improvements Roll In
Laurens van Hoepen goes up to P2 for TRIDENT, only 0.017s off Tsolov’s earlier laptime. MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì moves to P3. With each team trying to outdo one another.
Câmara beats his personal and overall best laptime of the week with a 1:23.252
AM Testing Wrap Up
Formula 3 champion Rafael Câmara takes the lead for the morning testing session with the weeklong best lap time of 1:23.252, followed by Campos teammates León and Tsolov setting times of 1:23.526 and 1:23.654.
The Silver Linings for Invicta Racing
“I felt quite confident from the beginning. It was a very nice feeling with the car. So, like I said, it’s been so far so good, and we’ll just keep trying to learn as much as possible, help the team to improve things and make sure that we’re ready for Melbourne.” Said session leader Câmara on his testing performance for himself and the team.
Calm Afternoon Session
As green lights hit the track, Hitech GP is the first to hit the road with both the drivers. Ritomo Miyata leads the pack with teammate Colton Herta, with the AIX team on their tails.
Rodin motorsport’s Alex Dunne set the leading lap time with a 1:29.534, followed by a personal best to the top with a time of 1:29.362 after being briefly bumped down by Câmara.
Heavy Improvements from Teams
ART Grand Prix sets a 1-2 with Maini and Inthraphuvasak for the afternoon. Team focus on long runs, practice pitstops and lengthy stints as opposed to single-lap pace this morning.
Heading to the final hour of the session, AIX Racing’s Cian Shields jumps to the top of the chart with a lap time of 1:26.671. Teammate Emerson Fittipaldi replaces the topper with a lap time of 1:26.351.
Final Minute Red Flag
The last red flag of the session was triggered by van Hoepen who had stopped on the main straight, with 5 minutes on the clock.
With 4 minutes left, the track was greenlit for the final stint of the pre-season testing.
Cian Shields goes fastest with a lap time of 1:26.269, followed by Noel León and Emerson Fittipaldi.
Formula 2 returns for its season opener in 2 weeks’ time in Australia from March 6-8.
Featured Image Credit: Formula 2