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TESTING NOTEBOOK: How did each team fare after three days of running in Barcelona?
After two competitive rounds of racing to start the year, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya played host to the Formula 3 teams for the three day in-season test.
It served as a good way for the teams to improve their performance ahead of the European portion of the season kicking off but how did they all perform?
Well, here is all you need to know…
PREMA RACING
The current Championship leaders made a strong start to the week with Gabriele Minì fastest in both sessions on day one. But that was during Qualifying simulations, with race pace getting the majority of their attention for the remainder of the week.
Minì, Dino Beganovic and Arvid Lindblad spent plenty of time out on track focusing on their race pace, completing 504 laps between themselves on the final two days.
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The trio each did two stints of 20+ lap race runs on the final afternoon and consistently lapped close to each other in the 1:33s.
With PREMA having tested plenty of setup directions and with unknowns regarding their fuel loads, it is hard to compare them to their rivals. But it does show the strength of their driver line-up and their tyre management skills across a race distance.
TRIDENT
Leonardo Fornaroli left Barcelona satisfied with the test, saying he had “fulfilled his program during the three days and he has tried different setups for the coming races.”
The Italian’s pace was equally as strong on one lap as it was over a race distance and he finished in the top five in three out of the six sessions, even topping the timesheets in the final afternoon segment.
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His rookie teammates Sami Meguetounif and Santiago Ramos seemed to run different programs that looked to be more focused on mileage. The latter completed 167 laps across the test while Ramos did 175, compared to Fornaroli’s 138.
Trident will have been pleased with what they saw as both drivers showed remarkable consistency and pace on their long runs on days two and three, and they can take plenty of confidence from that heading into the next round in Imola.
MP MOTORSPORT
With three rookies in their line-up, getting Tim Tramnitz, Alex Dunne, and Kacper Sztuka more comfortable was part of the focus for the Dutch team as they completed 646 laps across the three days in Barcelona.
On top of that, this year their weaknesses have tended to come in Qualifying, with Tramnitz’s P7 in Bahrain the only time they have had a driver qualify in the top 10 this season.
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But if the timesheets are anything to go by, they appear to have taken a step forward in that regard with Tramnitz and Dunne constantly finding themselves inside the top 10 on low fuel runs, while Sztuka was in and around the top 15.
While there will be unknowns regarding what their rivals were doing, this form will fill MP with confidence as their race pace, which has been good so far this year, also looked quite strong.
CAMPOS RACING
Arguably the happiest team at the end of the test, Campos were impressive in both Qualifying and race trim in Barcelona, with even their Team Principal Adrián Campos Jr admitting his surprise at their form.
But he also believes the pace has always been there and, given the fact that the team were not chasing performance last week and were simply testing different setups, it proves his point.
He was also left impressed with his driver line-up believing Mari Boya, who was fastest on days two and three, is ready to contend for victories, while Oliver Goethe is right there with him.
After being hampered by illness to start to the season, Sebastián Montoya is just behind his teammates, although Campos believes he will catch up soon enough.
HITECH PULSE-EIGHT
Hitech were able to test multiple different things in Barcelona while also giving their rookies Martinius Stenshorne and Cian Shields the opportunity to adapt better to the car.
As he has been so far this year, Luke Browning was a regular at, or near, the top of the field over one lap and in long runs while Stenshorne and Shields progressed well.
The latter left feeling much more at ease with the car and that he had got closer to Browning’s lap time. This showed in long runs on the final day as both drivers consistently lapped in the 1:32s, with the Norwegian’s fastest lap of 1:32.088 only a tenth off his teammate’s best effort.
Hitech would also have been happy with what they saw from Shields as after a slow start to the week, he gradually closed the gap on his two teammates, which will have given him confidence heading into the next rounds.
JENZER MOTORSPORT
The Swiss team quietly went about their business all week, having made a fast start with Charlie Wurz third in the opening session, while ninth in the afternoon, where Max Esterson joined him in the top 10.
Both drivers regularly were in the mix for the top 10 while Matías Zagazeta was also not the far off. All seemed to go smoothly for the trio as they completed 645 laps across the three days, giving them plenty of data to analyse.
They have clearly made strides in their performance this season and their overall pace looked solid, with each driver giving a glimpse of what they can do in F3 machinery.
VAN AMERSFOORT RACING
VAR have by their own admission struggled in Qualifying this year but from the looks of the timesheets, it appears that they are beginning to find the answers.
Noel León finished in the top 10 at least once on all three days, while Sophia Floersch and Tommy Smith made constant gains across the week.
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Their race pace looked competitive with all three drivers completing two long runs stints in the final afternoon. León and Floersch were quite evenly matched in the 1:32 and 1:33s range with Smith was not that far behind. After a tough start to the year, things may be trending upwards for VAR.
ART GRAND PRIX
Another team conspicuous in their silence across the three days was ART with their drivers Christian Mansell, Laurens van Hoepen and Nikola Tsolov all showing good pace in Barcelona.
Their pace in both Qualifying was competitive, with both Mansell and Van Hoepen regulars at the back end of the top 10 over one lap, which has been the case so far this season.
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In terms of race pace, they would have learned plenty about their performance and tyre management from their long runs on days two and three. They will now be looking for ways to improve both ahead of Imola next month.
PHM AIX RACING
They have shown flashes of pace so far this year with Nikita Bedrin’s P4 in the Melbourne Qualifying and his points finish in the Feature Race the highlight so far this year.
Bedrin continued his good form in Barcelona while his rookie teammates Joshua Dufek and Tasanapol Inthravuphasak worked hard to improve their performances.
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While setups, fuel loads and run plans may have been different, on the opening day, Bedrin held the clear advantage over his teammates, but Dufek and Inthravuphasak appeared to close the gap on each day, especially over one lap.
Their race pace was slightly behind their rivals but with plenty of laps completed across the three days they will have a lot of data to analyse, giving them an opportunity to see where they can improve.
RODIN MOTORSPORT
The British team are yet to score but have been nothing short of positive when talking about their progression so far this year. That continued after the test with Callum Voisin believing that they had made steps forward compared to Melbourne.
Voisin, Joseph Loake and Piotr Wisnicki felt they improved their race pace, which they all said had already been quite good, and their own driving across the three days.
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In terms of Qualifying, Loake did reveal that it was trending in the right direction, and it showed when he set the 11th fastest time in the morning session on day two. They will hope this is the springboard they needed to launch them into the battle for points starting in Imola.