Photo: Formula Motorsport LTD
MP Motorsport’s Matteo De Palo topped the timesheets on the opening day of FIA Formula 3’s second post-season test after the single-seater series swapped Jerez for Barcelona.
The Italian’s time of a 1m28.516 was enough to hold off Campos’ Ernesto Rivera who finished the day second overall.
Morning
Drivers took their time to head out on track in the opening hour as teams looked to make sure all systems were working.
Rashid Al Dhaheri was the pace setter in the opening hour, a 1m30.471 the benchmark for when drivers took to the track once more with two hours remaining.
With half the session left the AIX duo of Gabriel Gomez and Dion Gowda took to the front, Gomez leading his teammate with a 1m30.048 now the time to beat.
With an hour remaining Alessandro Giusti topped the time sheets for Rodin, a 1m29.394 the fastest time until Rivera dipped into the 1m28s with a 1m28.911 to put Campos top.
Van Amersfoort’s Enzo Deligny was the closest challenger to the Mexican with fifteen minutes to go, the gap between the top two down to less than two tenths.
Rivera improved along with Giusti but it was De Palo going fastest, the Italian clocking a 1m28.516 to move clear of Rivera and into top spot.
Any chance of a late improvement was slashed when Reza Seewooruthun stopped his Rodin on track bringing an end to the morning session.
Afternoon
Like what was seen in Jerez, the afternoon session was assigned for long runs as teams shifted their focus to race preparation.
Many teams held their drivers in the pits for the opening half of the session with Trident the first to venture out on track, logging a 1-2-3 with Kean Nakamura-Berta leading his teammates.
The British driver was later dislodged at the top though by Deligny and De Palo before Giusti beat the pair with a 1m28.685.
Deligny bettered his previous time to move to the front with a 1m28.661 only for Rivera to topple the Frenchman with a minute to go, a 1m28.549 the fastest time of the afternoon.
With no further improvements, Rivera comfortably cleared Deligny and Giusti at the chequered flag while behind them, Keanu Al Azhari and Jin Nakamura rounded out the top five.
DAMS were the happiest of the teams in the afternoon though with all three of their drivers tallying over 40 laps, Alexander Abkhazava managing the most with 45 laps.
Morning results
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | Matteo De Palo | MP Motorsport | 1:28.516 | 20 |
| 2 | Alessandro Giusti | Rodin Motorsport | 1:28.785 | 25 |
| 3 | Ernesto Rivera | Campos Racing | 1:28.837 | 14 |
| 4 | Enzo Deligny | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:29.095 | 13 |
| 5 | Taito Kato | ART Grand Prix | 1:29.167 | 15 |
| 6 | Zhenrui Chi | MP Motorsport | 1:29.352 | 19 |
| 7 | Gabriel Gomez | AIX Racing | 1:29.424 | 23 |
| 8 | Enzo Yeh | ART Grand Prix | 1:29.432 | 17 |
| 9 | Salim Hanna | Campos Racing | 1:29.440 | 19 |
| 10 | Miguel Costa | DAMS Lucas Oil | 1:29.476 | 21 |
| 11 | Kanato Le | Hitech | 1:29.512 | 21 |
| 12 | Mattia Colnaghi | Campos Racing | 1:29.524 | 19 |
| 13 | Pedro Clerot | Rodin Motorsport | 1:29.561 | 25 |
| 14 | Maciej Gladysz | MP Motorsport | 1:29.570 | 21 |
| 15 | Jin Nakamura | Hitech | 1:29.633 | 15 |
| 16 | Sebastian Wheldon | TRIDENT | 1:29.656 | 11 |
| 17 | Niccolò Maccagnani | TRIDENT | 1:29.678 | 11 |
| 18 | Dion Gowda | AIX Racing | 1:29.754 | 21 |
| 19 | Woohyun Shin | Hitech | 1:29.783 | 15 |
| 20 | Keanu Al Azhari | Hitech | 1:29.792 | 14 |
| 21 | Emanuele Olivieri | ART Grand Prix | 1:29.939 | 18 |
| 22 | Alexander Abkhazava | DAMS Lucas Oil | 1:29.979 | 22 |
| 23 | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | DAMS Lucas Oil | 1:30.014 | 28 |
| 24 | Alex Powell | PREMA Racing | 1:30.162 | 16 |
| 25 | Yevan David | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:30.165 | 15 |
| 26 | Rashid Al Dhaheri | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:30.427 | 17 |
| 27 | Kean Nakamura-Berta | TRIDENT | 1:30.444 | 13 |
| 28 | Martin Molnar | PREMA Racing | 1:30.771 | 17 |
| 29 | James Egozi | AIX Racing | No Time | 7 |
| 30 | Reza Seewooruthun | Rodin Motorsport | No Time* | 25 |
Afternoon results
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | Ernesto Rivera | Campos Racing | 1:28.549 | 35 |
| 2 | Enzo Deligny | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:28.661 | 40 |
| 3 | Alessandro Giusti | Rodin Motorsport | 1:28.685 | 41 |
| 4 | Keanu Al Azhari | Hitech | 1:28.975 | 32 |
| 5 | Jin Nakamura | Hitech | 1:29.062 | 32 |
| 6 | Niccolò Maccagnani | TRIDENT | 1:29.082 | 26 |
| 7 | Matteo De Palo | MP Motorsport | 1:29.157 | 40 |
| 8 | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | DAMS Lucas Oil | 1:29.164 | 40 |
| 9 | Miguel Costa | DAMS Lucas Oil | 1:29.204 | 44 |
| 10 | Salim Hanna | Campos Racing | 1:29.317 | 37 |
| 11 | Kanato Le | Hitech | 1:29.334 | 35 |
| 12 | Taito Kato | ART Grand Prix | 1:29.346 | 35 |
| 13 | Pedro Clerot | Rodin Motorsport | 1:29.361 | 43 |
| 14 | Woohyun Shin | Hitech | 1:29.379 | 29 |
| 15 | Mattia Colnaghi | Campos Racing | 1:29.482 | 36 |
| 16 | Reza Seewooruthun | Rodin Motorsport | 1:29.488 | 44 |
| 17 | Emanuele Olivieri | ART Grand Prix | 1:29.540 | 37 |
| 18 | Alex Powell | PREMA Racing | 1:29.564 | 30 |
| 19 | Gabriel Gomez | AIX Racing | 1:29.616 | 36 |
| 20 | Rashid Al Dhaheri | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:29.659 | 39 |
| 21 | Kean Nakamura-Berta | TRIDENT | 1:29.699 | 28 |
| 22 | Maciej Gladysz | MP Motorsport | 1:29.728 | 42 |
| 23 | Zhenrui Chi | MP Motorsport | 1:29.835 | 43 |
| 24 | Yevan David | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:29.862 | 39 |
| 25 | James Egozi | AIX Racing | 1:30.003 | 14 |
| 26 | Dion Gowda | AIX Racing | 1:30.039 | 37 |
| 27 | Sebastian Wheldon | TRIDENT | 1:30.045 | 26 |
| 28 | Enzo Yeh | ART Grand Prix | 1:30.078 | 36 |
| 29 | Alexander Abkhazava | DAMS Lucas Oil | 1:30.118 | 45 |
| 30 | Martin Molnar | PREMA Racing | 1:30.142 | 31 |