MOTORSPORT – FORMULA 1’s chief feeder series wrapped up three days of in-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir last night.
The FIA Formula 2 Championship and FIA Formula 3 Championship both put in some valuable running in Sakhir in preparation for the remainder of their respective 2025 campaigns.
The in-season tests were held between the first two rounds on their calendars. Both championships flagged off in Melbourne, Australia earlier this month, and they are set to return to action for their second events in support of the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2025, taking place from April 11 to 13 at BIC.
Yesterday’s tests took place from morning to night, allowing for the F2 and F3 teams to evaluate their cars in varying conditions around BIC’s 5.412-kilometre Grand Prix track.
In F2’s morning session, John Bennett of Van Amersfoort Racing went fastest with a lap of 1:47.228. Teammate Rafael Villagomez followed not far behind 0.271s adrift, while the AIX pairing of Cian Shields (+0.522s) and Joshua Durksen (+0.534s) were third and fourth, respectively. Oliver Goethe of MP Motorsport completed the top five 0.651s from the leader.
Richard Verschoor then put MP atop the timesheet in the evening tests, held under lights. He had a quickest time of 1:43.273.
Durksen followed 0.121s behind, while Sami Meguetounif of Trident was third 0.425s back. Goethe (+0.718s) and Shields (+0.763s) completed their impressive outings yesterday in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Meanwhile, Rafael Camara of Trident set the pace amongst F3’s runners in both the morning and afternoon yesterday.
Camara went fastest in the opening session with a top lap of 1:48.252. He was a mere 0.086s behind Tim Tramnitz of MP Motorsport, while Tuukka Taponen of ART Grand Prix was classified third 0.154s back. Alessandro Giusti in another MP car followed in fourth 0.157s from the leader, and Noah Stromsted of Trident joined them in the best five 0.176s behind.
Camara then had a quickest lap time of 1:48.673 to lead the afternoon runs, where Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin (+0.690s) and Louis Sharp (+0.818s) followed in the top three. Charlie Wurz of Trident was classified fourth 1.020s back and Roman Bilinski put all three Rodin cars in the leading five with a best time that was 1.231s off Camara’s.
F2 and F3 will be back on track at BIC in less than two weeks’ time in the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2025. They will have two races apiece over the race weekend, with their Sprint Races set for the Saturday and the Feature Races on the Sunday. The support series programme also features the Bahrain-based Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East.
For more information, visit bahraingp.com, call the BIC Hotline, or follow the circuit’s social media channels.
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