Camara sets the pace again on Barcelona F2 test’s last morning

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Invicta Racing’s Rafael Camara was quickest again on the final morning of Formula 2’s pre-season test at Barcelona.

The three-hour session had a quiet first 25 minutes in which only Campos Racing’s drivers had set laps at a representative pace. Noel Leon, having posted a 1m25.173s, led Nikola Tsolov by 0.516 seconds and only nine drivers had been on track.

Tsolov soon moved ahead by 0.025s, but Leon improved to 1m23.769s as the pair circulated on their own.

The next driver to set a flying lap was Hitech GP’s Ritomo Miyata, 37 minutes in, and his 1m26.617s was swiftly bettered by team-mate Colton Herta and then ART Grand Prix’s drivers. Kush Maini set a 1m25.276s to sit third, 0.145s faster than Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.

When Camara’s first flying lap came a few minutes later, he was 2.598s off the pace in sixth. He made a gain of 0.826s and one position next time around.

Tsolov then moved back ahead of Leon by 0.115s, Invicta’s Joshua Duerksen jumped to third with a lap 0.558s off Tsolov’s 1m23.654s and there was lots of change from seventh place downwards as many drivers lapped at pace for the first time.

Trident’s John Bennett was without any running at the end of hour one, when the track was empty due to red flags caused by Van Amersfoort Racing’s Nico Varrone going off at the last corner.

Seventh place had been snatched by Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne just before the interruption, and after the restart Inthraphuvasak and Maini improved in third and fourth.

DAMS’ Dino Beganovic briefly held sixth before being bettered by MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe, who was 1.512s off the pace, and at the 72-minute mark VAR’s Rafael Villagomez had a final corner off that led to a 28-minute red flag period.

Bennett headed out when green flags waved but did not record a flying lap before Leon stopped on track, triggering another stoppage.

With 66 minutes remaining, Camara posted a 1m23.978s to take third, and DAMS’ Roman Bilinski became the last driver within a second of the pace in eighth. Beganovic then posted a 1m25.058s to hold fourth before Prema’s Mari Boya lapped 0.172s off Tsolov’s benchmark. Miyata and Herta also improved in the top 10, and a second now split the top 13.

Most drivers returned to the pits after that, and on a quieter track MP’s Gabriele Mini became Tsolov’s closest rival with a lap 0.067s off the long-standing best.

Long runs were more frequent in the final hour, meaning fewer personal bests, but with 51 minutes to go Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen jumped from 18th to second as he outpaced Mini by 0.05s. Bennett went quickest in sector two in his next lap, climbing from 19th to 10th, then a minute later Herta got within 0.097s of Tsolov in fourth and Miyata improved to seventh.

The track became quieter again, but Camara stayed out and with 45 minutes left of the session laid down a 1m23.252s. Leon bettered Tsolov too, but was 0.274s off the new time to beat. Van Hoepen was now fourth, ahead of Mini and Herta in an order that went unchanged.

Morning session results