Luke Browning continued his fine form over the three days of pre-season testing in Sakhir as the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver topped the timesheets on the final morning of running at the Bahrain International Circuit.

In the afternoon, Dino Beganovic set the pace as the PREMA Racing driver left it late in the session to clock a 1:48.285, edging out the first day’s pace-setter Noel León by 0.075s.

MORNING

Having topped the timesheets on Day 2, Browning looked to be picking up from where he left off as he set the pace early on. His time of 1:46.991 was over half a second clear of his nearest rival, which was once again MP Motorsport rookie Alex Dunne.

The Red Flags were then waved, bringing a halt to proceedings after Hitech Pulse-Eight's Cian Shields pulled over to the side of the road down the main straight.

With the track clear, the action got underway once again as Browning immediately extended his advantage at the top with a lap of 1:46.566. ART Grand Prix driver Nikola Tsolov followed him across the line and moved up to second, albeit two and a half tenths adrift of the top spot.

But with the session winding down to a close, double yellow flags were waved at Turn 9 as Tsolov stopped on track, preventing any further improvements.

At the end of the first segment of the day, Browning topped the timesheets and the lap count. The British racer completed 35 tours of the track, the same amount as PHM AIX Racing’s Joshua Dufek.

Beganovic headed the way in the afternoon for PREMA Racing
Beganovic headed the way in the afternoon for PREMA Racing

AFTERNOON

With 180 minutes left of track time before the start of the 2024 season, the drivers hurried out of the garage as Sebastián Montoya set the early benchmark. His lap of 1:49.518 was enough to eclipse Matías Zagazeta time by 0.078s.

The first Red Flag of the afternoon segment arrived after Joshua Dufek stopped at the exit of Turn 1. The focus then turned to long runs and race pace upon resumption, meaning that major improvements on the timesheets were rare.

But, with half an hour remaining on the clock, the drivers started to set the timing screens alight as they set off on faster laps. The lead changed hands on multiple occasions until the final moments of the day when Beganovic set the fastest time.

The PREMA Racing driver clocked a 1:48.285 to narrowly beat the time set by Van Amersfoort Racing rookie León. Browning followed up his morning session by finishing third in the afternoon.

That brought a close to final day of the Sakhir pre-season test. Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli proved the busiest driver in the afternoon having completed 47 laps.

Round 1 takes place around the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir from February 29 – March 2.

2024 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - SAKHIR PRE-SEASON TEST, DAY 3, MORNING SESSION

PositionDriverLicenceTeamTimeLaps
1Luke BrowningGBRHitech Pulse-Eight1:46.56635
2Nikola TsolovBULART Grand Prix1:46.82532
3Max EstersonUSAJenzer Motorsport1:46.83626
4Martinius StenshorneNORHitech Pulse-Eight1:46.97931
5Noel LeónMEXVan Amersfoort Racing1:47.19633
6Laurens van HoepenNLDART Grand Prix1:47.29832
7Sami MeguetounifFRATrident1:47.32332
8Leonardo FornaroliITATrident1:47.32728
9Santiago RamosMEXTrident1:47.34328
10Alex DunneIREMP Motorsport1:47.38130
11Christian MansellAUSART Grand Prix1:47.38734
12Tim TramnitzDEUMP Motorsport1:47.42530
13Oliver GoetheDEUCampos Racing1:47.47428
14Mari BoyaESPCampos Racing1:47.51624
15Kacper SztukaPOLMP Motorsport1:47.52427
16Dino BeganovicSWEPREMA Racing1:47.53632
17Charlie WurzAUTJenzer Motorsport1:47.54624
18Nikita BedrinITAPHM AIX Racing1:47.57927
19Gabriele MinìITAPREMA Racing1:47.64531
20Callum VoisinGBRRodin Motorsport1:47.66828
21Matías ZagazetaPARJenzer Motorsport1:47.67821
22Joshua DufekAUTPHM AIX Racing1:47.74535
23Tasanapol InthraphuvasakTHAPHM AIX Racing1:47.77025
24Arvid LindbladGBRPREMA Racing1:47.88832
25Cian ShieldsGBRHitech Pulse-Eight1:48.13630
26Tommy SmithAUSART Grand Prix1:48.16334
27Joseph LoakeGBRRodin Motorsport1:48.20929
28Sophia FloerschDEUVan Amersfoort Racing1:48.29234
29Piotr WisnickiPOLRodin Motorsport1:48.31225
30Sebastián MontoyaCOLCampos Racing1:50.7585

2024 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - SAKHIR PRE-SEASON TEST, DAY 3, AFTERNOON SESSION

PositionDriverLicenceTeamTimeLaps
1Dino BeganovicSWEPREMA Racing1:48.28533
2Noel LeónMEXVan Amersfoort Racing1:48.36029
3Luke BrowningGBRHitech Pulse-Eight1:48.36531
4Gabriele MinìITAPREMA Racing1:48.40933
5Arvid LindbladGBRPREMA Racing1:48.54533
6Mari BoyaESPCampos Racing1:48.62438
7Martinius StenshorneNORHitech Pulse-Eight1:48.71128
8Oliver GoetheDEUCampos Racing1:48.79431
9Sophia FloerschDEUVan Amersfoort Racing1:49.01532
10Nikita BedrinITAPHM AIX Racing1:49.06228
11Sebastián MontoyaCOLCampos Racing1:49.15830
12Matías ZagazetaPARJenzer Motorsport1:49.23633
13Tasanapol InthraphuvasakTHAPHM AIX Racing1:49.41325
14Cian ShieldsGBRHitech Pulse-Eight1:49.44335
15Callum VoisinGBRRodin Motorsport1:49.46733
16Piotr WisnickiPOLRodin Motorsport1:49.52826
17Tommy SmithAUSVan Amersfoort Racing1:49.58033
18Max EstersonUSAJenzer Motorsport1:49.58733
19Joshua DufekAUTPHM AIX Racing1:49.96127
20Charlie WurzAUTJenzer Motorsport1:50.25926
21Leonardo FornaroliITATrident1:50.95047
22Joseph LoakeGBRRodin Motorsport1:51.03025
23Alex DunneIREMP Motorsport1:51.55733
24Santiago RamosMEXTrident1:51.72236
25Sami MeguetounifFRATrident1:51.74638
26Kacper SztukaPOLMP Motorsport1:51.77530
27Nikola TsolovBULART Grand Prix1:51.78941
28Tim TramnitzDEUMP Motorsport1:51.79233
29Laurens van HoepenNLDART Grand Prix1:51.89238
30Christian MansellAUSART Grand Prix1:52.06239