Browning sets new benchmark pace for F3 test on final morning

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Hitech GP’s Luke Browning lowered the pace on the final morning of FIA Formula 3 pre-season testing at Bahrain.

It was a relatively quiet session, despite a red flag period at the end of the first hour, with most of the changes at the top of the timesheet occurring within the first nine minutes of the two-and-a-half hours of running.

ART Grand Prix duo Laurens van Hoepen and Nikola Tsolov were first to the top, then Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon set a 2m23.109s but was was fastest for less than a second before MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne set a 2m22.631s.

His team-mate Kacper Sztuka crossed the line 24 seconds later with a 2m18.912s, but half a minute later he was beaten by Hitech’s Martinius Stenshorne who set a 2m11.383s.

The ART GP duo reached a far more representative pace with their next efforts, as van Hoepen set a 1m49.683s and Tsolov went 0.046s faster.

They did not even end the minute on top though as Prema’s Gabriele Mini and Dino Beganovic came through with 1m48.009s and 1m47.690s efforts respectively.

There was then no change at the top until 32 minutes into the session, when Tsolov beat Beganovic’s benchmark by 0.029s but was then beaten by Dunne to the tune of 0.089s.

Browning blew both out of the water 20s later with a 1m46.991s, and he improved to 1m46.556s five laps – but 35 minutes – after that. That effort beat the fastest lap set by Leon on day one of the test.

Tsolov, Jenzer Motorsport’s Max Esterson and Stenshorne all broke the 1m47s barrier in the second hour, with the track mostly empty prior to the final half-hour.

There was no change to the order after that, although Campos Racing’s technically moved into last place as he did not even leave the pits until very late in the session. The track became busy again in the final five minutes, but nobody improved their pace.

Morning session results