Hitech Grand Prix rookie Hadjar fastest on Day 2 of testing in Sakhir

A rookie driver topped pre-season testing for the second day in a row at Sakhir, as Hitech Grand Prix’s Isack Hadjar set the fastest lap in the morning session to beat ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins and Trident’s Jonny Edgar.

Martins dominated the majority of the opening session but saw his best lap beaten by the Frenchman, whose time of 1:47.516 was just under a tenth faster.

Despite missing out on the top spot in the morning, Martins did finish first in the afternoon stint, setting a 1:48.250 to beat Trident’s Roman Staněk and Hadjar.

MORNING

The second morning began in scorching heat, but that didn’t stop the field from heading onto the circuit at the first opportunity. Martins set the benchmark at 1:47.602 ahead of Edgar in the early stages before a series of long runs.

Martins remained up front for the majority of the session, but his time was eventually eclipsed by Red Bull-backed Hadjar, who went 0.086s quicker. That bumped Martins down to P2 and the Trident of Edgar down to third.

ART rookie Gregoire Saucy - who dominated post-season testing in Valencia last year - put in the most laps on the morning of Day 2, completing 45 runs overall.

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After missing Day 1 due to an inconclusive Covid test, Juan Manuel Correa was cleared to hit the track on Wednesday and the ART racer wasted little time, putting himself in the top five and setting the joint-second most laps, with 43.

Trident’s Zane Maloney beat MP Motorsport’s Alex Smolyar to sixth as Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan made the top 10 for the first time in Sakhir, placing eighth.

PREMA Racing’s Jak Crawford and Jenzer Motorsport’s William Alatalo completed the top 10, who were all separated by less than half a second.

AFTERNOON

The afternoon saw a mixture of long runs and fast laps as the session began in hot conditions but cooled as the day wore on. The leader switched several times in the opening hour before László Tóth settled into first place with a steady time of 1:50.540.

Francesco Pizzi knocked his Charouz teammate off the top of the table when the laptimes began to tumble, but he didn’t remain there for long, as Van Amersfoort’s Franco Colapinto and PREMA’s Olli Bearman each enjoyed spells in first, although both fell out of the top 10 in the final half an hour.

Hadjar continued his promising Day 2 form by breaking the 1m 49s barrier, but it was Martins who took control of the session, dropping a 1:48.250 to jump up to the top of the leaderboard.

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Staněk dove between the two of them for second place, just over a tenth behind Martins. Saucy took fourth, ahead of Smolyar, Kaylen Frederick and Caio Collet.

Edgar was the busiest man in the afternoon, completing 43 laps before a minor collision between Ido Cohen and Correa brought out a Red Flag and ended the session prematurely.

During his 43 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit, Edgar managed to set the eighth fastest time of the afternoon, finishing ahead of O’Sullivan and Kush Maini.

The final day of pre-season testing will begin at 9am (local time) on Friday.

2022 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – SAKHIR PRE-SEASON TESTS, DAY 2, MORNING SESSION

2022 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – SAKHIR PRE-SEASON TESTS, DAY 2, AFTERNOON SESSION