IN-SEASON TESTING RECAP: What we learned from our three days in Bahrain

After an action-packed opening round in Melbourne, the drivers were back in the car last week, but this time for in-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Between the 10 teams in the paddock, 5,131 laps were completed across the three days. This means that there is plenty of data for everyone to analyse before we return to the same Sakhir venue later this month for Round 2.

Câmara: ‘Hard work must continue’ after topping in-season testing with TRIDENT

But before the racing gets going once again, let us look at some of the major talking points from Bahrain.

TRIDENT THE ONES TO BEAT

After a superb weekend in Melbourne, where Rafael Câmara led Noah Stromsted across the line in the Feature Race, there were a lot of eyes on TRIDENT in Bahrain, with many keen to see if they would continue their fine form.

But they were quiet across the opening two days, especially on the timesheets, as they worked through and tested different setups, learning more about the car over a race distance, especially when it came to the tyres.

However, they showed their hand on the final day when Câmara led both the morning and afternoon sessions, setting the fastest times of the week with a 1:48.252.

On top of that, Stromsted was fifth in the morning, less than two-tenths behind Câmara, while Charlie Wurz ended up P4 in the afternoon.

What will have caught the eye of their rivals is the margin of Câmara’s lead in the afternoon. He was 0.818s clear of the rest of the field after his flying lap, before Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin reduced it to 0.690s.

As well as being quick, the TRIDENT cars looked incredibly stable, which is impressive given that the Sakhir track, with its mix of technical corners and long straights, puts extreme pressure on the teams to nail the overall package.

READ MORE: TRIDENT’s Rafael Câmara sweeps the final day of the in-season test in Sakhir

So far, it seems TRIDENT are doing all the right things, and based on what we have seen, they will be expecting all three of their cars to be up there come Round 2.

TAKING STEPS FORWARD

Not every team had it all their way in Melbourne though, and ART Grand Prix were one of those, the French outfit the only members of the paddock not to score a point in Australia.

That means they went to Bahrain with a lot of work to do, looking to find more performance before the season’s action really begins to heat up. By the looks of things, it seems they have taken a step forward.

Speaking after Day 2, Tuukka Taponen revealed that he and the team had made “massive changes” on the car. He also said that while their long run pace had improved, they still had a little bit more performance to find in Qualifying.

The Finn also spoke at the end of the test. He said: “We have learned quite well what we have improved from previous events, and we have a good baseline now going into the race weekend.”

The timesheets showed this, as while you cannot always read too much into the testing leaderboards, all three of their drivers ended up in the top three in at least one session.

Taponen also placed inside the top 10 in five out of the six segments, showing the pace he and the team have in the car.

READ MORE: Sharp ‘feeling good’ after strong day of in-season testing in Sakhir

ART finished on the podium in both races in Bahrain last year – Laurens van Hoepen second in the Sprint, while Christian Mansell finished in the same position in the Feature.

With their improved form, they will be confident of being in the mix for those top spots next weekend.

COUNTING UP THE MILEAGE

The teams were certainly busy in Bahrain, especially MP Motorsport, who completed the most laps with 545. They went about their work seamlessly, and on the final day, Tim Tramnitz set the second fastest time, while Alessandro Giusti was fourth.

PREMA Racing’s 543 laps were the second most, with Brando Badoer leading the way with 190. After a difficult Round 1, the reigning Teams’ Champions spent a lot of time out on track looking to find more performance.

Currently second in the Drivers’ Championship is Théophile Nael, and his Van Amersfoort Racing squad are also in the same position in the Teams’ Standings.

The Dutch team were consistently in and around the top of the timesheets across the three days, and their 540 laps completed were the third most of any team, while Ivan Domingues’ 195 laps led the way for the drivers.

READ MORE: Boya fastest for Campos Racing on Day 2 of Sakhir in-season testing

Bahrain is a track where they have a good history – Franco Colapinto achieving pole on their first ever race weekend – so VAR will feel confident of being competitive in Round 2.

WHAT ELSE WAS SAID?

Rodin Motorsport and AIX Racing are another two teams who will be feeling confident going into Round 2, and their drivers assessed the situation both during and after the test.

The former were competitive on the timesheets on each day, Louis Sharp the lead rookie on Day 2, where he set the fastest time in the morning.

Speaking afterwards he said: “The team did a really good job, and the car was feeling very strong…we really maximised all our new tyre runs. It showed up in the lap time, and the feeling in the car was definitely very good.”

After the test was completed, Callum Voisin, who was second in the final afternoon added: “It was a good test overall, pretty tricky in some places, but feel like we made a good step. Looking forward to Round 2 in Bahrain, but we made some good steps forward, had a decent run in the last session, so I’m looking forward to Round 2.”

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AIX were also consistently in and around the top 10 in each session, and in the final afternoon, Javier Sagrera and Freddie Slater finished sixth and seventh.

After jumping out the car on Day 3, Sagrera said: “It felt really good. A bit tired after three days, they were really intense, we tried a lot of things. I think it was really productive, found a lot of conclusions, improved in a lot of things, so I think really needed to have a little bit more milage in the car, so really happy.”