Duerksen on top, F2 paddock switches focus to long runs in afternoon

Photo: Dom Gibbons

Joshua Duerksen had a big gap at the top on the second afternoon of Formula 2 pre-season testing as the focus switched to long runs.

Only installation laps were completed in the first 15 minutes of the three-hour session at Barcelona, and Rodin Motorsport’s Martinius Stenshorne was first to lay down laptimes.

He was beaten 23 minutes in by Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov, who lapped in the 1m30s twice to lead Cian Shields (AIX Racing), Stenshorne and Emmo Fittipaldi (AIX).

Invicta Racing’s Rafael Camara was the fifth driver to begin a proper run, and shot to the top with a 1m29.544s as DAMS’ Dino Beganovic slotted into fourth.

Tsolov got within 0.332s of Camara approaching the half-hour mark, and Stenshorne demoted Beganovic to fifth with a 1m30.595s. ART Grand Prix’s Kush Maini soon bettered Beganovic too, then 35 minutes in the first flying lap from Invicta driver Duerksen came in. A 1m27.463s made him fastest by 2.081 seconds.

Two minutes later, Hitech GP’s Colton Herta rose to fourth, posting a 1m30.059s, and half of the field was active. Beganovic moved up a spot to sixth, but was demoted again as Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak’s opening effort at pace put him ahead by 0.05s. The ART GP driver found more pace, setting a 1m30.223s to take fifth as Duerksen pitted.

Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen was next to enter the top five, going 0.105s faster than Inthraphuvasak. Few improved while in the middle of long runs.

Eight drivers were without laptimes entering hour two. Trident’s John Bennett and Campos’s Noel Leon soon logged their first ones, then Prema’s Sebastian Montoya and Mari Boya appeared on the timesheet 72 minutes in.

MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe and Gabriele Mini, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Nico Varrone and Rodin’s Alex Dunne had not even left the pits, and Dunne was without laptimes from the morning as they were all deleted due to his car being underweight.

Once Mini and Goethe did head out, they still did not record any laptimes before Herta brought out red flags approaching the session’s halfway point by going off at turn four.

Action resumed with 77 minutes left, and it took a further seven minutes before MP’s drivers were back on track. Goethe’s first flying lap, a 1m30.153s, put him sixth and Mini was 0.211s behind in eighth as Duerksen headed out for the first time in 48 minutes.

He began the final hour by lowering the pace to 1m25.363s to sit 4.181s ahead. Dunne left the pits, Varrone did too with 51 minutes to go, and shortly after Mini improved to fourth with a 1m30.022s.

Dunne’s first flying lap came with 47 minutes remaining, and made him Duerksen’s closest rival despite being 4.12s off the pace. Inthraphuvasak became the fourth driver to lap sub-1m30s four minutes later, with scant improvements thereon.

Camara reclaimed second place 23 minutes from the end, and set another personal best next time by to get within 1.708s of Duerksen. Fittipaldi was starting a run at the same time, and once up to pace a 1m29.520s earned him fourth by 0.075s.

Boya caused a red flag period after that, and most drivers headed out when green flags returned. Only Shields improved, rising from 12th to sixth.

Afternoon session results