Bohra beats Badoer to top spot in Euro 4 practice at Barcelona

Photo: ACI Sport

US Racing’s Akshay Bohra was the pacesetter in practice for the final Euro 4 round at Barcelona.

The 40-minute morning session started with some of the Prema drivers heading out then going straight back to the pits, then going back out again.

But the first timed lap was not set until five minutes in, and it was by AKM Motorsport’s Tina Hausmann. Only two other drivers had set laps, and both had gone faster than her, when red flags waved four minutes later.

US Racing’s Gianmarco Pradel topped the times with a 1m44.752s when action restarted, but was soon shuffled down to third as Prema’s James Wharton and Arvid Lindblad set a 1m43.448s and 1m43.699s respectively.

Freddie Slater made it an all-Prema top three by also lapping sub-1m44s, and two minutes later Wharton, Slater and Pradel broke into the 1m42s.

Going into the session’s second half Ugo Ugochukwu took over at the top, setting a 1m42.230s, with US Racing’s Zachary David just 0.083s slower in third and Pradel improving to 1m42.562s in fifth place.

Slater was next to the top, setting a 1m42.029s, and with eight-and-a-half minutes to go David went second fastest with a 1m42.164s. He improved on his next lap to get within 0.02 seconds of Slater’s pace, and the top two remained that close to the end.

In the final minutes Bohra rose to fifth place with a 1m42.374s, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Brando Badoer went seventh fastest with a 1m42.490s. Seven drivers below him on the timesheet also improved, with nine drivers in total meeting the chequered flag. Lindblad sank to 10th place, 1.001s off the pace, and Hausmann was 2.048s slower than Slater in 18th. VAR’s Rafael Modonese failed to set a single lap.

FP2 took place in the afternoon and Slater was the driver to beat at first with a 1m43.143s. Ten minutes into the session he was knocked down to third as Ugochukwu set a 1m42.734s and Pradel was just 0.061s slower. Slater did improve, but remained in third and 0.073s off the top.

Nobody was then able to improve as the track was put under full course yellow conditions, and a few minutes after green flag action resumed Pradel set a 1m42.113s.

With 25 minutes to go US Racing had a lockout of the top three places, with Bohra setting a 1m41.818s and David going just 0.081s slower. Bohra then improved to 1m41.662s before joining the rest of the field in the pits.

Lots of drivers improved with 10 minutes to go, and Lindblad jumped up to the top with a 1m41.490s. Ugochukwu wa 0.163s behind in second, with Bohra, Rashid Al Dhaheri and Wharton following.

Bohra gained back a place on the timesheet with a 1m41.639s lap, as Slater slotted into third and just 0.001s behind him.

Badoer then got within 0.03s of Lindblad, but in the final seven minutes he was down to fourth as Bohra went fastest with a 1m41.136s and Wharton took third place with a 1m41.517s.

On the next lap Badoer returned to second, getting within 0.237s of Bohra’s pace, and Wharton made sure he remained third by improving to 1m41.405s.

Free practice results