Saucy and Miní fastest on second day of pre-season testing in Sakhir

Grégoire Saucy topped a busy morning on the second day of pre-season testing. The ART Grand Prix driver was immediately out on track and on the pace, eventually setting a 1:46.642 to top the times for the morning segment.

In the afternoon, rookie Gabriele Miní took Hitech Pulse-Eight to the top of the timing screens. The Italian put in a 1:48.175 to secure the top spot in the afternoon session ahead of Saucy, who missed out on topping his fourth-consecutive session by 0.036s.

Here is how Day 2 of testing around the Bahrain International Circuit unfolded.

MORNING

Sophia Flörsch led the way out of the garages for the morning session with everyone getting laps in early. Gabriele Bortoleto put in a 1:47.808 to go quickest in the opening minutes for Trident. Grégoire Saucy slotted in two-tenths behind with Jenzer Motorsport’s Taylor Barnard third.

The ART Grand Prix driver didn’t take long to retake the top spot. He fired in a 1:46.697 to go comfortably fastest as the first driver into the 1:46s. He lowered that by 0.055s with an hour and a half to go before the only Red Flag of the morning after Alejandro Garcia stopped on track at Turn 6. Saucy’s time remained unbeaten to the chequered flag.

With the track back to green, Dino Beganovic, Gabriele Miní and Bortoleto could hardly be split in second, third and fourth places respectively, separated by 0.076s. Franco Colapinto moved himself up the order to round out the top five going into the final hour.

With the temperatures rising as midday approached, further personal bests were sparse and long runs became the focus until the end of the session. Miní was the busiest of all, putting in 39 laps across the morning.

AFTERNOON

Hunter Yeany led the way back out for the afternoon running, with Josep María Martí topping the times in the early stages. The second Red Flag of the day was thrown soon after due to Saucy stopping out on track, but the session was quickly back underway.

Martí broke into the 1:49s to extend his advantage at the top before a second Red Flag for a car pulling off circuit, this time for Oliver Gray. The session went back to green with an hour and 45 minutes remaining. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Tommy Smith and then Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli took turns at the top heading into the final hour of track time on Day 2.

Times began to improve once more as the sun began to set, with Bortoleto returning to the top of the timing screens on a 1:48.388. Miní moved back into P1 with just over half an hour still to run, 0.099s clear of Hitech Pulse-Eight teammate Sebastián Montoya in second.

A flurry of improvements in the final 10 minutes of the session changed the order somewhat, with Saucy going just 0.036s from taking P1 once again. Montoya, Collet and Beganovic completed the top five.

The final day of F3 pre-season testing will kick off at 09:00 local time and can be followed live via live timing.

2023 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – SAKHIR PRE-SEASON TEST, DAY 2, MORNING SESSION

2023 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – SAKHIR PRE-SEASON TEST, DAY 2, AFTERNOON SESSION