F2: Pourchaire fastest on final day at Barcelona hampered by rain

Theo Pourchaire headed Day 3 of the FIA F2 test at Barcelona ahead of Victor Martins and Ayumu Iwasa to end the testing.

MORNING

As quickly as the session started, the Red Flags waived for the first time after a spin for Pourchaire on cold tyres. Back underway and it was Enzo Fittipaldi who set the initial pace before Pourchaire put a time on the board good enough for P1. His 1:24.852 was the fastest lap in the opening half an hour of running.

The second Red Flag of the day came after Ralph Boschung went deep at Turn 5 and ran into the gravel. After the Campos Racing car was recovered, the session went back to green and Pourchaire lowered his fastest effort. He was the first driver into the 1:23s over the course of the three days, setting a 1:23.943 to extend his advantage at the top. His time remained unbeaten throughout the remainder of the session.

The order stayed relatively stable for the next hour with the focus on race runs. Ayumu Iwasa improved onto a 1:24.762, putting him third behind the ART duo of Pourchaire and Victor Martins.

Race simulations continued for the rest of the morning session, with Jack Doohan ending up with the most laps completed on 69, in what was a busy morning for Invicta Virtuosi Racing. Teammate Amaury Cordeel also logged the next best total with 68 to his name by the time the chequered flag fell.

AFTERNOON

Rain in between the morning and afternoon sessions meant there was no rush to get back out on track following the break. Roman Stanek led the way early on before Zane Maloney set a 1:37.435 to top the times after 45 minutes.

There was a Red Flag just before the hour mark after Iwasa stopped out on track in his DAMS. Back to green flag running with an hour and 50 minutes remaining of the test, Jak Crawford was first out on track and on slick tyres. The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver took the top spot briefly with consecutively quicker laps until Roy Nissany took over P1 on a 1:27.626 with just under an hour and a half to go. The PHM Racing by Charouz driver lowered his own benchmark to a 1:26.453 with a little over an hour to go.

Into the final 45 minutes the rain began to fall once again prompting everyone to return to the pits. With the track no longer at its best, several drivers logged more laps in the closing stages on wet tyres though there were no major changes in the order.

Here’s of Day 1 of F2 test panned out

Here’s of Day 2 of F2 test panned out

[Note: The story is as per press release]