F3 points leader Bortoleto fastest on second morning of Imola test

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Formula 3 points leader Gabriel Bortoleto was fastest on the second morning of the championship’s in-season test at Imola.

Campos Racing’s Pepe Marti set the pace early on, leading with a 1m30.924s lap before the session was red flagged after 19 minutes when Trident’s Oliver Goethe crashed at turn 19.

Following the restart it was Hitech GP’s Luke Browning who went to the top, bettering Marti by 0.075 seconds. ART Grand Prix’s Gregoire Saucy went third fastest, with MP Motorsport’s Jonny Edgar and Hitech’s Gabriele Mini completing the top five.

Prema’s Paul Aron briefly usurped Browning, only for his 1m30.811s lap to be deleted for a track limits violation, but then Browning was pushed down to second place for real as MP’s Franco Colapinto set a 1m30.816s.

Less than a minute later Prema’s Dino Beganovic then bettered Colapinto, setting a 1m30.547s that kept him in first place for half an hour before day one pacesetter Nikita Bedrin – who had been in second place – posted a 1m30.416s lap.

Jenzer Motorsport driver Bedrin spent even more time in first place than Beganovic did, although he was helped by a lengthy red flag stoppage after Colapinto stopped at turn seven with a technical problem.

Bedrin’s hour on top was ended by Trident’s Bortoleto, who set a 1m30.312s with just over three quarters of an hour left of the three-hour session.

MP’s Mari Boya caused the next red flag period, and there was little in improved laptimes after that, with Bortoleto ending the morning 0.104s up on Bedrin and 0.159s up on Colapinto.

Taylor Barnard made it two Jenzer drivers in the top four, while Beganovic was shuffled down to fifth, just ahead of Marti and Aron.

Morning session results