Kato fastest in long run-focused final FIA F3 test session at Barcelona

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

ART Grand Prix’s Taito Kato led the second afternoon of FIA Formula 3’s post-season test at Barcelona, in a session where long runs were the focus.

James Wharton was first to the top with a 1m30.262s set seven minutes in, which Prema team-mate Enzo Deligny swiftly beat by 0.019 seconds.

Kato’s first flying lap came less than two minutes later and was a 1m28.767s which would not be beaten. Prema’s Louis Shortly after Sharp went fourth fastest, 1.681s off the pace.

Eight drivers had lapped at a representative pace after 23 minutes, at which point Wharton improved to 1m30.188s. He was now ahead of Deligny, but 1.421s off Kato.

It took another 10 minutes before a third of the 30-car field had lapped at a comparable speed, which came at the start of long runs for some, and slotting in behind the top four 41 minutes in were Hitech GP’s Jin Nakamura and Fionn McLaughlin.

Half of the field had now been out for more than just sighter laps, a number which soon expanded to 20 while yet to even leave the pits were Hitech’s Joseph Loake (ruled out after an incident in the morning session) and the drivers of DAMS and MP Motorsport.

McLaughlin moved ahead of Nakamura by 0.004s at the end of hour one of three, but Nakamura reclaimed fifth place by setting a 1m30.587s as hour two began.

The track became busier and after 75 minutes DAMS’ drivers had begun their first long runs while Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu and Trident’s Noah Stromsted laid down their first flying laps after only driving at an unrepresentative pace in hour one. AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides also improved slightly in seventh place.

MP’s Alessandro Giusti set his first lap 84 minutes in, and team-mate Mattia Colnaghi only did a sighter before returning to track and posting his first laptime 10 minutes later in the session’s second half.

The next 45 minutes were quieter, with only a few drivers on track at a time and no changes to the order.

Ugochukwu broke into the top 10 with 36 minutes to go, and nine minutes later Stromsted went fifth fastest. His 1m30.536s lap was 1.769s slower than Kato’s benchmark.

DAMS’ Niko Lacorte then demoted Ugochukwu to 11th with two improvements, and Benavides found a gain of 1.107s but only rose one spot back up to seventh. His team-mate Fernando Barrichello left it until six minutes to go to complete his first lap, and on his single run managed to go 11th fastest.

There were more changes to the top 10 in the last 10 minutes, with Stromsted setting a 1m29.797s eight minutes from the end to reduce Kato’s advantage to 1.03s and then pitting. His team-mate Matteo De Palo then set two laps good enough for ninth.

Additional reporting by Jacob Awcock

Afternoon session results