Minì quickest once again on final day of post-season testing in Imola

Gabriele Minì ended the final day of post-season testing on top, setting the fastest time in a dry/wet last day of on-track action at Imola.

The PREMA Racing driver took control of the timing sheets during the opening hour of morning running around the Italian circuit, setting a 1:30.679. His efforts couldn’t quite be matched, with Mari Boya finishing only 0.027s adrift in P2, whilst Dino Beganovic completed a PREMA 1-3.

By contrast, the afternoon session was impacted by rain. Once the track steadily began to dry, it was Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Alex Dunne who earned the fastest time. His 1:39.730 put him 1.033s clear of Jenzer Motorsport’s Charlie Wurz and Beganovic at the chequered flag.

MORNING 

The whole field ventured out straight away at the green light, with Dunne quickest out of the box to set the early benchmark at 1:32.190. Beganovic, the first driver signed for the 2024 FIA Formula 3 campaign, was the next to go fastest by two tenths, before improving to a 1:31.571.

After 20 minutes of running, the field made a quick trip to the pits. Bolting on some fresh medium Pirelli tyres, Dunne reclaimed the top spot in a1:31.306 until Minì became the first driver to break into the 1m30s.

Kacper Sztuka brought out the first Red Flag of the day at the start of the second hour after the #11 MP Motorsport car stopped on track. It was nip and tuck at the top of the timing sheets once running resumed, with 0.073s separating the top three of Minì, Boya and Beganovic.

However, the proceedings were halted by four Red Flag appearances in succession after Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli and Sami Meguetounif stopped on track and both Rodin Carlin cars of Callum Voisin and Ugo Ugochukwu found the gravel trap in separate incidents.

A fifth and final stoppage came with four minutes left on the clock after Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak came to a halt in the #31 PHM Racing car, bringing an early conclusion to the morning’s session. The order remained mostly unchanged throughout, with long runs being the focus. MP Motorsport’s Grégoire Saucy and Tim Tramnitz got the most mileage on the board, notching up 44 laps apiece.

AFTERNOON

As rain began to fall at the beginning of the final session, few were in a rush get back out on track. Santiago Ramos was the first to explore the wet Imola circuit, completing his initial tour on a 1:54.111.

Boya found the gravel trap at Turn 4 to bring out the first Red Flag of the afternoon within the first 20 minutes of running. The session resumed momentarily before being halted once more due to the heavy downpour.

Once the rain eased off, the Hitech Pulse-Eight trio ventured out and Dunne’s 1:49.625 slotted him up into P1. As the track filled up, the fastest time exchanged hands seven times until Meguetounif broke the 1m47s barrier to take the top spot briefly. Tramnitz then lowered the benchmark to 1:46,889, slipping 0.052s ahead of the French driver.

Meguetounif brought out the Red Flag at the halfway mark after the #5 car stopped on track. When green flag conditions resumed, Minì clocked in a 1:46.821 to go fastest, before another interruption to running, courtesy of Louis Sharp stopping at Turn 14.

Sebastián Montoya, Dunne, Fornaroli, Meguetounif and Minì all brought the time to beat down to the low 1m42s, but there was just enough time for a last-gasp switch to mediums in the closing stages. Dunne then went over a second quicker than Wurz to take the P1 spot on 1:39.730.

The Irish driver’s effort remained unbeatable. A final Red Flag was waved with five minutes remaining after Nikola Tsolov stopped, on track and the session was not restarted.

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

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