Leclerc Fastest on Day 2 of Testing in Valencia in Difficult Conditions

Testing for FIA Formula 3 Euroseries at Valencia continued today with Van Amersfoort Racing rookie Charles Leclerc leading both the rain hit morning and the drying afternoon sessions, followed by Carlin duo George Russell and Callum Illot. Yesterday’s fastest man Antonio Giovinazzi finished the day in P6, although struggled somewhat in the wet, only putting in a time fast enough for 12^th.

The 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS runner-up held a strong 0.7s over Red Bull Junior Illot in the morning; the young Brit’s fastest lap a 1:37:264 to Leclerc’s 1:36:530. Team West-Tec F3 driver Fabian Schiller put in an impressive third, followed by Double R Racing’s Matt Solomon and 2014 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award Winner George Russell.

The drying track in the afternoon allowed many to jump up the order, most notably the Jagonya Ayam Carlin squad who all finished the day in the top 10. Alexander Albon, Maximillian Günter and ean Gelael also improved to boost themselves higher on the timing sheets this afternoon, but still it was Leclerc who had almost half a second on the rest of the field.

Regarding this week’s collective test, the Monegasque commented:

“They went really well, our main objective for this test was to test as many things as possible, and we did it, so I’m really happy with it!”

As for the rest of the season, he remains optimistic, but admits it won’t be until Silverstone that the field shows their true colours:

“P1 is definitely our target for this year – it is hard to say where we will be, for the moment the team and I just work on our job, and we will see at the first quali of the year when everyone will push at 100%, before that it is hard to see where we really are. But I think we have the potential to do really good this season!”

F3 is back on April 7^th at Silverstone for the second collective test ahead of Round 1 at Silverstone on the 10^th – 12^th April.