Ugochukwu quickest at a wet Imola in FIA F3 post-season testing

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

FIA Formula 3’s final post-season test at Imola began with a wet session in which Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu was quickest.

Rain hit early in the morning, and everyone stayed in their garages for the first 15 minutes of the three-hour session. Drivers then headed out for sighting laps, getting a taste of conditions before returning to the pits.

There was then another long stretch of the track being empty, before Hitech GP’s drivers ventured out 49 minutes in.

Jin Nakamura posted a 2m01.808s as he was joined on track by Prema’s line-up, who not complete a timed lap before pitting as a few others logged sighting laps at the end of hour one.

Drivers headed out one at a time thereon until the 70-minute mark, which preceded another stretch of inactivity before Trident’s Freddie Slater and Matteo De Palo took to track. Both were set to beat Nakamura’s benchmark, but instead returned to the pitlane.

There was then a 24-minute spell of no action before Ugochukwu left the pits with 68 minutes to go, at which point Nakamura’s laptime was scrubbed from the timesheet.

Ugochukwu was joined by team-mate Theophile Nael, and four minutes later they went one-two with 1m51.933s and 1m52.179s laps. Next time by Ugochukwu improved to 1m51.313s, but Nael set a 1m50.743s.

The response from Ugochukwu was to go fastest by 0.33 seconds, and hour two ended with six other drivers recording laptimes.

Hour three began with Prema’s James Wharton getting within 0.19s of Ugochukwu, then Nael posted a 1m49.629s to reclaim top spot by 0.784s.

Prema’s Louis Sharp lapped 0.133s shy of Nael, but was swiftly shuffled to fourth as Ugochukwu lowered the pace to 1m49.240s to lead Wharton by 0.125s.

Sharp set a 1m48.948s two laps later, and more than a third of the 30-car field had now set laptimes.

Next to the top was MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti, posting a 1m48.710s, then Wharton went quickest by 0.155s moments before Sharp improved to 1m48.448s to reclaim first place. Wharton replied with a 1m47.851s, as MP’s Tuukka Taponen went fourth fastest.

Hitech’s Michael Shin demoted Taponen with 44 minutes to go, but Taponen then improved to 1m48.057s and second place while Giusti set a personal best of 1m48.201s to retain third only for Ugochukwu to beat him by 0.098s.

Two thirds of the field had set representative laptimes with 43 minutes to go, and Wharton’s gap was cut to 0.046s by MP’s Mattia Colnaghi.

Taponen then went quickest, posting a 1m47.499s, but Ugochukwu went 0.088s faster than him just before red flags waved as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi had crashed at turn 13.

Action resumed with 32 minutes remaining, and almost everybody headed out. Giusti set a 1m47.618s to take third with 27 minutes to go, and red flags returned 19 minutes from the end as he crashed at turn six.

Ten minutes were left after that, and on a busy track few improved as AIX Racing’s Fernando Barrichello became the last driver to lap at pace.

Morning session results