Bortoleto and Bedrin head the field on final day of testing at Imola

Rookies Gabriel Bortoleto and Nikita Bedrin topped the closing day of in-season testing at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

Taking the honours of the fastest time of testing, Bortoleto put Trident to the top of the morning timing sheets with a 1:30.312 ahead of Bedrin and Franco Colapinto.

Topping his third session out of four, Bedrin dominated the afternoon’s running virtually from start to finish. Nobody could touch the Jenzer Motorsport driver’s time, clocking in a 1:31.536 around the Italian circuit ahead of teammate Taylor Barnard and Bortoleto.

MORNING

Quick out of the box at the start of running, Martí swiftly set the pace for Campos Racing with a 1:30.924, going over three tenths quicker than Day 1’s pace-setter Bedrin. But no sooner had the session started before its first stoppage, after Trident’s Oliver Goethe crashed at Turn 19 within the opening 20 minutes.

As times began flooding in, Dino Beganovic, Bedrin, Colapinto and Browning all leapfrogged the Spaniard, with the #1 PREMA Racing car dropping a 1:30.547. On his next attempt, Colapinto knocked the Ferrari junior off the top spot by 0.076s, before Bedrin snuck ahead with a 1:30.416. Jenzer Motorsport’s promising pace continued as Taylor Barnard joined his teammate inside the top three.

The final driver to get a time on the board, Championship leader Bortoleto, rocketed back up front with a 1:30.312, eclipsing Bedrin’s time by 0.104s. The top 10 remained the same from there on out, as the warmer midday temperatures saw teams transition into long runs.

Two Red Flags would be triggered in the final hour and half of running courtesy of MP Motorsport duo Colapinto and Mari Boya. Firstly, the Williams junior stopped on track at Turn 7, followed by Boya finding the gravel trap at Turn 12 in the concluding 30 minutes.

Putting in the most laps of the morning session, Martí completed 44 runs overall, with 24 drivers reaching the 30-lap marker across the three hours.

AFTERNOON

Greeted by warmer and sunnier conditions, track temperatures hovered around the 42˚ mark as the final testing session got underway. The rookies continued to stake their claim on the fastest time, with Bedrin jumping to the top with a 1:31.536 to lead a Jenzer 1-2 by two tenths to Barnard.

The quickest driver of the morning wasn’t far behind as Bortoleto moved up to third ahead of his Trident teammates. Recovering from his earlier stoppage, Goethe climbed into up into fourth, just in front of Leonardo Fornaroli and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Tommy Smith. With their best efforts all set within the opening hour, the top six remained unchanged to the chequered flag.

While the middle stint concentrated on long-run pace, that didn’t stop several improvements towards the back end of the top 10. After being absent on Day 1, Rodin Carlin’s Hunter Yeany slotted up into ninth at the halfway point.

Meanwhile, the Hitech Pulse-Eight saved their best till last for the final hour of uninterrupted running. Gabriele Minì’s effort was rewarded with seventh, ahead of Boya, Luke Browning and the third Jenzer car of Alejandro García.

An impressive 10 drivers broke into a half century, but it was Zak O’Sullivan in the #3 PREMA that went the distance, putting down 66 laps in total.

2023 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - IMOLA IN-SEASON TEST, DAY 2, MORNING SESSION

2023 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - IMOLA IN-SEASON TEST, DAY 2, AFTERNOON SESSION