F2: Mini takes top spot on Day 2 of Barcelona test from Miyata

Gabriele Mini sets the pace on Day 2 of FIA F2 test in Barcelona from Ritomo Miyata and Luke Browning – all setting their fast lap in the morning session.

MORNING

A busy morning started with the fastest time changing hands several times early on, but it was Richard Verschoor’s 1:26.304 that put him 0.227s clear of Hitech TGR’s Dino Beganovic. However, with 25 minutes gone, TRIDENT’s Max Esterson stopped at Turn 2, bringing out the Red Flags. Once the action resumed, several teams fitted the Soft tyres, with Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne going to P1 on a 1:25.191, beating Minì to the top spot by 0.115s.

Verschoor lowered the time to beat to 1:24.565, while his MP Motorsport teammate Goethe, was three-tenths behind in P2. Minì then replied with a 1:23.709 to take back the top spot, but shortly afterwards, Campos Racing’s Josep María Martí spun into the gravel at Turn 5, stopping proceedings. At the resumption, many drivers set personal best times, but no one could match Minì, with AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen the closest, 0.262s off.

90 minutes were left on the clock when the session was Red Flagged again, with Arvid Lindblad’s Campos car needing to be recovered from the gravel trap at Turn 7. Minì continued his fine form by lowering the benchmark time to a 1:23.660, with ART Grand Prix driver Ritomo Miyata then going to within 0.7s in P2. Three Red Flags in close succession brought the drivers back into the pit lane and limited running in the closing stages.

Firstly, Leonardo Fornaroli’s Invicta Racing car needed to be removed from the Turn 5 gravel, and just after the resumption, Jak Crawford spun into the gravel at the final corner. John Bennett’s Turn 2 stoppage brought the final Red Flag of the morning and with his Van Amersfoort Racing car only cleared after the chequered flag, it meant Minì ended the morning on top. Miyata remained in second ahead of Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning and ART teammate Victor Martins, with Duerksen fifth. Lindblad was sixth in front of Dunne and his Campos teammate Martí. Sebastián Montoya was in P9 while Verschoor rounded out the top 10.

AFTERNOON

MP made a fast start to the afternoon with Goethe going to the top of the timesheets on a 1:24.372, a tenth ahead of Verschoor. Beganovic though, split the pair later on, the Hitech TGR driver completed a 1:24.424 that put him within 0.052s of the benchmark time. Long runs were the focus for the majority of the afternoon, which meant there were not many changes at the top of the timesheets.

However, the session was interrupted by a Red Flag, with the marshals needing to remove a piece of debris from the racing line at the final corner. Running resumed before another Red Flag was waved with less than 20 minutes remaining on the clock, after TRIDENT’s Sami Meguetounif stopped on the main straight.

There were no further changes to the order, meaning that Goethe ended up with the fastest time in the afternoon, ahead of Beganovic and his teammate Verschoor. Roman Stanek was fourth for Invicta Racing, ahead of Rafael Villagómez, and TRIDENT’s Meguetounif and Max Esterson. Fornaroli was up in eighth, with Christian Mansell in P9 and Browning in 10th for Hitech TGR.

Here’s how Day 1 of F2 test panned out

[The story is as per press release]