Crawford fastest with PREMA Racing on Day 2 of post-season testing in Valencia

Jak Crawford seems to have settled snugly into his new office, putting PREMA at the top of the order on the second day of post-season testing with the quickest time of the three-day stint in Valencia so far, lapping at 1:21.368.

ART Grand Prix’s continually impressive rookie Grégoire Saucy and Trident’s Roman Stanek finished behind the American in second and third with the fastest three times all posted in the morning session.

MP Motorsport debutant Franco Colapinto topped the afternoon session, although his lap of 1:21.759 was 0.391s off the morning’s best time. Saucy was once again in second, followed by MP’s Caio Collet.

MORNING

There was a handful of driver changes for Day 2 of post-season testing in Valencia, including Paul Aron replacing Arthur Leclerc at PREMA Racing and Oliver Rasmussen switching to ART Grand Prix, but the field largely remained the same.

David Vidales was the early pacesetter for Campos Racing, taking the lead with a time of 1:21.723. Stanek set an identical time shortly after, with Saucy 0.001s off in third place.

The 2021 Formula Regional champion continued his impressive early showing for ART, going two places better to take the lead with a tour of 1:21.447.

Crawford was a familiar name at the top of the timesheet in the final hour, going quickest with a lap of 1:21.368, shortly before Johnathan Hoggard stopped on track, resulting in the first Red Flag of the test.

Action resumed but the order didn’t change and Crawford ended the morning session on top with Saucy and Stanek in second and third as focused shifted to data gathering in the final hour.

MP Motorsport’s Collet and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jack Doohan completed the top five, ahead of PREMA rookie Oliver Bearman and Trident’s Zane Maloney.

Vidales finished eighth, with Hitech Grand Prix’s Kaylen Frederick ninth and Van Amersfoort rookie Reece Ushijima 10th.

Testing with Charouz Racing System, Nicola Marinangeli completed the most laps overall, finishing in last place but with 62 laps under his belt.

READ MORE: Step up to F3 “easier” than expected, says Formula Regional European champion Saucy

AFTERNOON

A trio of rookies set the standard at the start of the afternoon session, with Colapinto leading Jenzer Motorsport duo Enzo Trulli and William Alatalo with a lap of 1:22.757.

Jonny Edgar set 1:22.739 to put 2021 Teams’ Champions Trident at the top of the order after an hour before Saucy brought the session to a halt, stopping at Turn 12 and causing a Red Flag.

Breaking the 1m 22s barrier for the first time in the afternoon, Collet looked to have secured P1 as several drivers tried and failed to beat his time of 1:21.843.

However, with just 15 minutes left on the clock, Saucy stuck on a new pair of boots and was able to knock the MP driver off first place, lapping at 1:21.789. Collet was then bumped down to third by Colapinto, who went 0.030s faster and stole P1.

Crawford had briefly gone fastest during the midway point of the session, but ended the afternoon in eighth, with his teammate Aron posting the fourth quickest time. Stanek completed the top five, ahead Frederick and Maloney.

Vidales and Bearmann took the final two spots in the top 10, with Marinangeli once again completing the most laps, running 59 times in the afternoon for a total Day 2 lap count of 121.

The final day of testing will begin tomorrow at 9am local time.

2021 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – VALENCIA POST-SEASON TESTS, DAY 2, MORNING SESSION

2021 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – VALENCIA POST-SEASON TESTS, DAY 2, AFTERNOON SESSION