Zane Maloney finishes pre-season testing on top ahead of Sakhir season opener

Zane Maloney continued to set the pace in the final day of the Sakhir pre-season test, as the Rodin Motorsport driver set a 1:42.468 late in the afternoon session to top the timesheets.

Earlier on in the day, it was Isack Hadjar who led the Campos Racing one-two ahead of his teammate Josep María Martí.

MORNING

Hadjar hit the ground running immediately taking the top spot with a 1:45.331 in the opening half an hour. 2024 teammate Martí made it a 1-2 for Campos Racing, as the Spaniard slotted into P2, 0.2s down on the best effort.

With long running and race stints very much the focus of the first session, major improvements were scarce for the majority. Andrea Kimi Antonelli moved his PREMA Racing #4 up to P4 inside the final hour of running, slotting in just behind Trident’s Roman Stanek.

Gabriel Bortoleto improved to seventh position with just over 20 minutes left of the first segment for Invicta Racing before teammate Kush Maini followed suit and went third quickest, 0.9s off Hadjar.

At the chequered flag, Joshua Duerksen of PHM AIX Racing was the busiest in the session, accumulating 51 laps for the German team.

Hadjar was quickest of all in the final morning session in Sakhir for Campos

AFTERNOON

Into the afternoon session and Bortoleto headed the way early on, setting a 1:43.435 to head the field by half a second over Antonelli. The Italians PREMA teammate Oliver Bearman improved shortly afterward to put the pair second and third overall, 0.172s and 0.360s down on the Brazilian respectively.

With just over an hour and a half to go, Hadjar lifted himself back into the top five setting a 1:44.430. Making him the only other driver within a second of the top effort as teams focused on making the most of the final session.

Heading towards the final hour of running and the Frenchman was back on top, setting a 1:42.712 to lead a Campos 1-2 ahead of Martí, who was 0.175s back in P2.

Into the final 60 minutes of testing action and Richard Verschoor leapt up to third with a 1:43.201 but it wasn’t until the final 10 minutes when the timing screens lit up.

Ritomo Miyata, then Jak Crawford and then Zane Maloney took turns at the top, as the latter fired in a 1:42.468 to go first. It proved to be the best in the final session as the Bajan driver topped the third and final day, making it two out of three across the test.

Round 1 will see the Championship return to Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on February 29 – March 2.

2024 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP – SAKHIR PRE-SEASON TESTING, MORNING SESSION DAY 3 CLASSIFICATION

Position Driver Licence Team Time Laps
1 Isack Hadjar FRA Campos Racing 1:45.331 39
2 Josep María Martí ESP Campos Racing 1:45.547 41
3 Kush Maini IND Invicta Racing 1:46.310 48
4 Roman Stanek CZE Trident 1:46.662 28
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli ITA PREMA Racing 1:46.733 48
6 Zane Maloney BRB Rodin Motorsport 1:46.759 45
7 Enzo Fittipaldi BRA Van Amersfoort Racing 1:46.885 20
8 Gabriel Bortoleto BRA Invicta Racing 1:47.066 45
9 Franco Colapinto ARG MP Motorsport 1:47.081 42
10 Dennis Hauger NOR MP Motorsport 1:47.194 43
11 Victor Martins FRA ART Grand Prix 1:47.391 44
12 Ritomo Miyata JPN Rodin Motorsport 1:47.391 46
13 Jak Crawford USA DAMS Lucas Oil 1:47.432 33
14 Richard Verschoor NLD Trident 1:47.576 28
15 Zak O’Sullivan GBR ART Grand Prix 1:47.840 30
16 Oliver Bearman GBR PREMA Racing 1:48.005 48
17 Amaury Cordeel BEL Hitech Pulse-Eight 1:48.226 47
18 Rafael Villagómez MEX Van Amersfoort Racing 1:48.560 42
19 Paul Aron EST Hitech Pulse-Eight 1:48.987 46
20 Joshua Duerksen PRY PHM AIX Racing 1:49.205 51
21 Taylor Barnard GBR PHM AIX Racing 1:50.082 24
22 Juan Manuel Correa USA DAMS Lucas Oil 1:50.638 11

2024 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP – SAKHIR PRE-SEASON TESTING, AFTERNOON SESSION DAY 3 CLASSIFICATION

Position Driver Licence Team Time Laps
1 Zane Maloney BRB Rodin Motorsport 1:42.468 33
2 Jak Crawford USA DAMS Lucas Oil 1:42.661 30
3 Ritomo Miyata JPN Rodin Motorsport 1:42.684 34
4 Isack Hadjar FRA Campos Racing 1:42.712 37
5 Enzo Fittipaldi BRA Van Amersfoort Racing 1:42.808 29
6 Josep María Martí ESP Campos Racing 1:42.887 38
7 Richard Verschoor NLD Trident 1:43.201 31
8 Franco Colapinto ARG MP Motorsport 1:43.294 36
9 Dennis Hauger NOR MP Motorsport 1:43.337 37
10 Joshua Duerksen PRY PHM AIX Racing 1:43.352 25
11 Juan Manuel Correa USA DAMS Lucas Oil 1:43.386 34
12 Gabriel Bortoleto BRA Invicta Racing 1:43.435 48
13 Andrea Kimi Antonelli ITA PREMA Racing 1:43.607 32
14 Rafael Villagómez BRA Van Amersfoort Racing 1:43.749 39
15 Roman Stanek CZE Trident 1:43.775 37
16 Oliver Bearman GBR PREMA Racing 1:43.795 35
17 Taylor Barnard GBR PHM AIX Racing 1:44.124 43
18 Zak O’Sullivan GBR ART Grand Prix 1:45.196 36
19 Kush Maini IND Invicta Racing 1:46.956 37
20 Victor Martins FRA ART Grand Prix 1:47.453 48
21 Amaury Cordeel BEL Hitech Pulse-Eight 1:47.933 50
22 Paul Aron EST Hitech Pulse-Eight 1:48.138 48

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