F2: Doohan keeps top spot on wet/dry Day 2 at Barcelona

Jack Doohan retained top spot in FIA F2 test on Day 2 at Barcelona from Frederik Vesti and Theo Pourchaire.

MORNING

Brad Benavides ventured out in the wet for some early laps and was shortly joined by the Trident duo. Clément Novalak brought out an early Red Flag, running off the track at Turn 2 and getting stuck in the gravel.

Running resumed as the rain became heavier and Jak Crawford was the next to fall foul of the conditions. A spin at Turn 4 left him beached in the gravel, bringing out the second Red Flag of the morning.

With an hour gone, Victor Martins topped the times with a 1:39.969 for ART Grand Prix, the first driver below the 1:40s mark. There was a brief Red Flag after a wide moment for Roy Nissany. The PHM Racing by Charouz driver ran off the track but recovered to the pits, meaning the proceedings got back underway quickly.

Théo Pourchaire posted a 1:39.009 to go quickest of all by nearly a second approaching the halfway stage of the morning session. He improved to break into the 38s, setting a 1:38.945 as the rain began to ease.

A fourth Red Flag came with just over an hour to go after Dennis Hauger spun at Turn 11 and stopped on track. Running resumed for a short spell before another Red Flag, this time for the stationary Enzo Fittipaldi at Turn 6. Once again, the resumption was short-lived after Ralph Boschung spun at Turn 10 for another stoppage with just over half an hour to run.

Back to green flag conditions and the improvements arrived quickly with the track almost dry. A 1:36.311 by Arthur Leclerc put him fastest by 1.5s inside the final 15 minutes. Maini then leapt to the top of the times as he made the switch to slick tyres. He finished the morning with a 1:28.049 to be fastest overall.

AFTERNOON

Following the rain in the morning, everyone was eager to get out for some dry running. Nissany set the early benchmark to beat with a 1:27.316 inside the opening 10 minutes. Boschung was next to go fastest, setting a 1:26.721 for the top spot.

The first Red Flag of the afternoon came after a spin for Crawford at Turn 9. The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver escaped any major damage after a trip deep into the gravel and a tap against the barriers. The session resumed with two hours and 15 minutes remaining.

Following the morning rain, the majority of the focus in the afternoon was on completing race simulations and logging as much mileage as possible. Running went uninterrupted until a spin at Turn 6 for Doohan brought out the Red Flags with the Invicta Virtuosi Racing #14 stopped on track.

Back underway with just over an hour remaining, Roman Stanek claimed the top spot on a 1:26.500 before multiple drivers took brief turns as the fastest. Novalak, Isack Hadjar and then Fittipaldi each went to the top with under an hour to go.

In the final minutes, Frederik Vesti and Pourchaire traded the top spot. The Dane went P1 with seven minutes to go with a 1:24.466 until Doohan claimed the fastest time, setting a 1:24.318 with five minutes to go, finishing on top for the second consecutive day.

Here’s of Day 1 of F2 test panned out

[Note: The story is as per press release]