Browning leads Dunne on second afternoon of FIA F3’s pre-season test

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Hitech GP’s Luke Browning edged MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne to top spot in the afternoon session of FIA Formula 3’s pre-season test at Bahrain.

The pair came to the fore in the final half-hour of the two-and-a-half hour session, and were split by 0.066 seconds at the top of the timesheet.

Campos Racing’s Sebastian Montoya was fastest at first, then Jenzer Motorsport’s Charlie Wurz moved into first place nine minutes in by setting a 1m52.272s.

Two minutes later Prema’s Dino Beganovic lowered the pace to 1m51.403s, with Wurz improving to 1m51.569s and Trident’s Sami Meguetounif rising to third with a 1m52.412s.

Next to top the times was Gabriele Mini, and the Prema driver set a 1m51.070s. Meguetounif improved in fourth, but was then knocked down a spot by Browning who set a 1m51.843s.

ART Grand Prix’s drivers set their first flying laps 25 minutes in, with Rodin Motorsport’s trio putting their first laps on the board after half an hour.

Montoya had dropped way down the order but returned to first place at the 35-minute mark by setting a 1m49.413s. At the end of the first hour he still had a gap of 1.65 seconds to second place after Mini impoved to 1m51.063s.

That gap grew once more when Montoya set a 1m49.081s in the session’s second half, and in the final hour his team-mate Oliver Goethe joined him in slashing the 1m51s barrier with a 1m50.015s lap. With 45 minutes to go a Campos 1-2-3 was then formed as Mari Boya set a 1m49.133s to slot into second place.

More change occured in the final half-hour, with Montoya shuffled down to fifth as Browning lowered the pace to 1m48.073s, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon set a 1m48.929s, PHM Racing’s Nikita Bedrin improved to 1m48.987s and ART GP’s Laurens van Hoepen set a 1m49.078s. Goethe fell to 18th place, with Mini down in 22nd.

Six minutes later Browning was in fourth and Montoya was 12th as more drivers improved as MP’s drivers moved to the top. Dunne led the way with a 1m47.041s, Tim Tramnitz was second with a 1m47.658s and Kacper Sztuka occupied third place after setting a 1m47.839s.

Hitech’s Martinius Stenshorne rose to fifth, but soon lost the position to Boya. With 10 minutes to go van Hoepen moved into fourth with a 1m47.948s, as many drivers headed out for one final blast.

Browning returned to the top with a 1m46.819s, a lap that would ultimately not be beaten, Bedrin set a 1m47.122s to go third and Wurz set a 1m47.342s to go fourth fastest.

Tramnitz nudged Dunne down to third by setting a 1m46.976s with seven minutes to go, but Dunne responded with a 1m46.885s to reclaim second place. Boya improved in sixth, ART GP’s Nikola Tsolov was knocked down to seventh and Mini went from 25th up to 18th, back down to 21st and then finally up to 14th place.

Montoya did not improve in the final hour and ended the session in 27th, faster than only the Trident drivers who went on long runs.

Afternoon session results