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.

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

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