Goethe leads the way for Campos Racing on final day of Barcelona post-season testing

Oliver Goethe carried over his form from the first test in Jerez, posting a 1:26.675 to secure the fastest overall time of the second post-season test in Barcelona.

The Campos Racing driver regained the top spot after being briefly demoted by PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Minì. He eventually finished three tenths clear of the Italian and over half a second quicker than Leonardo Fornaroli for Trident.

Dino Beganovic was a constant presence out front in the afternoon. The Ferrari Academy junior’s 1:28.553 put him quickest in the opening half an hour and remained there until the end.

MORNING

In a contrast to the previous morning, the first three hours of running kicked off bright and early. Sebastián Montoya headed out at the first opportunity, setting the standard at 1:28.208.

Goethe took over the helm of the leaderboard from the Colombian, clocking in a 1:28.034, before becoming the only driver to break into the 1:27s during the opening quarter of an hour. Campos Racing put all three cars inside the top four, with Mari Boya slotting into fourth behind ART Grand Prix’s Nikola Tsolov.

Improving further on a 1:27.125, Goethe’s hold on the fastest lap was ended as Minì bested the German driver’s efforts by 0.091s, shortly before the first Red Flag interruption of the day. Charlie Wurz found the barrier at Turn 2 in the #27 Jenzer Motorsport car, which was quickly recovered.

After a brief period of quiet, cars flooded back out on track with two hours remaining. Lapping at 1:26.675, Goethe’s three purple sectors were enough to elevate him back into P1 and secure the only sub-1m 27s time of testing around the Spanish circuit.

With an hour and 45 minutes on the clock, the Red Flag was brought out once more. Laurens van Hoepen found the barrier at Turn 9 after climbing into the top five on the timing sheets.

Times remained mostly unchanged once green flag conditions returned. Lap counts steadily continued to rise as nine drivers reached the 40-lap marker, led by rookie Arvid Lindblad on 49 laps.

Fornaroli closed out the session in third, two tenths off his compatriot Minì in second. Boya claimed the fourth-fastest time, ahead of the ART duo of van Hoepen and Tsolov. Noel León finished inside the top seven for Van Amersfoort Racing, ahead of Sami Meguetounif, Lindblad and Christian Mansell.

AFTERNOON

Attentions were squarely focused on race runs for the final three hours of track time in Barcelona. Campos once again leapt to the top of the timing sheets, as Boya laid down a 1:28.810, four tenths clear of Montoya.

Beganovic was able to find pace inside the #1 PREMA car, moving up into second. His next tour of a 1:28.553 was enough to overtake Boya by two tenths in the early phase of running. This stayed unbeatable throughout the remaining two and a half hours of running, as the Swede kept busy notching up the most laps of the session on 65.

Whilst morning pace-setter Goethe crept into third, the rookies began to make their presence known, as Wurz moved up to fifth ahead of Fornaroli. Ugo Ugochukwu slotted his Rodin Carlin car into seventh, followed closely behind by Matias Zagazeta and Sami Meguetounif in P8 and P9 respectively. Max Esterson ensured that all three Jenzer Motorsport cars ended the day inside the top 10.

Under an hour of testing remained when a third Red Flag of the day was flown. PHM Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak went wide out of Turn 9 and became stuck in the gravel.

A handful of late improvements towards the tail end of the timing sheets popped up in the final half an hour, but the top 10 remained unchanged at the chequered flag.

Formula 3 post-season testing concludes with a further two days of running at Imola from October 23-24.

2023 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - BARCELONA POST-SEASON TEST, DAY 2, MORNING SESSION

2023 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - BARCELONA POST-SEASON TEST, DAY 2, AFTERNOON SESSION