Martins puts MP Motorsport on top as pre-season testing concludes in Barcelona

MP Motorsport’s Victor Martins went fastest for the second day in a row in the final pre-season test at Barcelona, with the Alpine junior beating his own best time from the first day to finish ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Alex Smolyar.

Trident’s Jack Doohan rounded off a solid pre-season for the Italian team in P3, ahead of 2020 title contender Logan Sargeant, testing for Charouz Racing System, with the top four all separated by less than two tenths.

MORNING

The clouds over the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya remained dark on Day 2, but at least the track was dry for the final morning session of pre-season, following a wet opening day in Spain.

Trident quickly got to work, releasing their trio at the first opportunity and allowing Doohan and Clément Novalak to do battle for first during an early run of fast laps. The Frenchman went first, posting 1:32.878, but the Australian was able to go entire second quicker to steal P1 from him. As the session wore on, Doohan and Novalak continued to swap places at the front, before eventually settling for third and fifth.

Smolyar was one of those to push them down the order, dragging his ART into P1 with a time of 1:31.768, shortly before Roman Stanek pulled over in the Hitech Grand Prix at Turn 7 and brought out a Red Flag.

Two further Red Flags followed in the AM, as HWA RACELAB’s Matteo Nannini came to a halt on the gravel at Turn 12 and Juan Manuel Correa stopped at Turn 9 in the ART. Despite the hiccup, both were still able to make it into the top 10, with Nannini taking sixth and Correa 10th.

Having dominated the timesheets on Day 1, Martins continued his impressive run with MP on the second day, snatching first place from Smolyar with a tour of 1:31.636.

Sargeant put his name into the mix as well, throwing his Charouz into fourth. There was also space in the top 10 for Hitech’s Ayumu Iwasa, who stole P7 ahead of ART’s Frederik Vesti and PREMA Racing’s Dennis Hauger.

AFTERNOON

Returning to the track for the final time in pre-season, the afternoon stint was geared towards longer runs and data gathering, with the vast majority of drivers all punching in more than 30 laps.

Jenzer Motorsport’s Calan Williams climbed to the top of the timesheet inside of the opening hour, setting the pace at 1:32.518, and remained at the top of the order for the rest of the three-hour session.

The Australian was backed up by Iwasa and his teammate, Pierre Louis Chovet, in second and third, with the duo 0.470s and 0.483s off the leading pace.

Stanek and MP’s Caio Collet completed a top five with a combined total of 233 laps between them, the latter undertaking the joint-most laps along with Jak Crawford, who finished 13th with Hitech.

HWA duo Nannini and Rafael Villagomez finished in sixth and seventh, ahead of Carlin Buzz Racing pairing Kaylen Frederik and Jonny Edgar. Campos Racing’s Lorenzo Colombo and Amaury Cordeel rounded out the top 10.

With the final pre-season test now complete, focus will switch to the season opener at Barcelona in two weeks’ time.

2021 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - BARCELONA PRE-SEASON TESTS, DAY 2, MORNING SESSION

2021 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - BARCELONA PRE-SEASON TESTS, DAY 2, AFTERNOON SESSION