Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Gabriele Mini beat Victor Martins to set a new best time on day two of the in-season Formula 2 test in Bahrain.
As was the case on the opening day, teams dedicated the morning session to race runs. Richard Verschoor set the best time just inside the final hour of the session, 0.174 seconds ahead of his MP Motorsport team-mate Oliver Goethe and 1.5s ahead of third-placed Joshua Duerksen, but his 1m46.475s was almost four seconds adrift of the pace set the previous evening.
The ART Grand Prix duo of Victor Martins and Ritomo Miyata had the busiest mornings, recording 49 laps apiece and clocking the fifth and sixth best times respectively at the end, just behind Van Amersfoort Racing’s John Bennett.
The pace was immediately higher in the afternoon, set initially by Leonardo Fornaroli and then Joshua Duerksen.
Fornaroli took top spot back from Jak Crawford after 70 minutes, and although Pepe Marti lowered the pace into the 1m42s inside the final hour, the Invicta Racing driver went quicker still a few minutes later.
Compatriot and former Formula 3 rival Mini then went 0.34s clear of the field with just over half an hour to go, setting a 1m32.488s.
Roman Stanek soon took second and Martins third, but it was Martins who would get closest to Mini in the end, taking second with eight minutes left on the clock but falling 0.095s short of the best time.
Combined day two results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriele Mini | Prema Racing | 1m42.488s | 52 | |
| 2 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | 1m42.583s | +0.095s | 69 |
| 3 | Roman Stanek | Invicta Racing | 1m42.751s | +0.263s | 67 |
| 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Invicta Racing | 1m42.828s | +0.340s | 78 |
| 5 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport | 1m42.867s | +0.379s | 64 |
| 6 | Pepe Marti | Campos Racing | 1m42.959s | +0.471s | 60 |
| 7 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | 1m42.990s | +0.502s | 65 |
| 8 | Ritomo Miyata | ART Grand Prix | 1m43.000s | +0.512s | 69 |
| 9 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | 1m43.002s | +0.514s | 75 |
| 10 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 1m43.023s | +0.535s | 45 |
| 11 | Arvid Lindblad | Campos Racing | 1m43.039s | +0.551s | 63 |
| 12 | Alex Dunne | Rodin Motorsport | 1m43.073s | +0.585s | 55 |
| 13 | Max Esterson | Trident | 1m43.075s | +0.587s | 44 |
| 14 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m43.092s | +0.604s | 76 |
| 15 | Amaury Cordeel | Rodin Motorsport | 1m43.141s | +0.653s | 60 |
| 16 | Sebastian Montoya | Prema Racing | 1m43.155s | +0.667s | 51 |
| 17 | Dino Beganovic | Hitech | 1m43.175s | +0.687s | 62 |
| 18 | John Bennett | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m43.332s | +0.844s | 68 |
| 19 | Luke Browning | Hitech | 1m43.347s | +0.859s | 59 |
| 20 | Kush Maini | DAMS | 1m43.670s | +1.182s | 67 |
| 21 | Joshua Duerksen | AIX Racing | 1m43.832s | +1.344s | 71 |
| 22 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | 1m44.035s | +1.547s | 51 |