Very reliable and pretty fast: Rodin Motorsport’s Testing Round-up

If the timesheets during pre-season are anything to go by then Rodin Motorsport look in prime position to have a strong 2024 FIA Formula 2 campaign, with Zane Maloney proving to be the fastest overall across the three days.

That form also translated across both cars with rookie Ritomo Miyata ending the final session on the last day in third, just over two tenths off the leading time set by Maloney. But how does Team Manager Benn Huntingford reflect on their performance?

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“We are pretty happy with how the week has gone,” he said. “We've just been building on what we did at Abu Dhabi last year at the end of season test.

“In terms of the drivers, just been working on stuff with them and then from a team point of view getting on top of the new car. The rest has been pretty good, we've had good reliability, we've got lots of laps done. We’ve been pretty fast as well.”

Maloney’s pace at the Bahrain International Circuit represents a good start to his second season in the Championship and with the team.

The recently announced Sauber Academy member has been hard at work over the winter looking to build on a solid rookie campaign that included four podiums en route to finishing 10th in the Standings.

That work looks to be paying off for the Boy from Barbados as he was in tremendous form over the test. He started out by finishing second fastest on the opening day, before returning on days two and three to top the timesheets.

Along with that, his race pace compared to his rivals looked solid, and Huntingford admits the team are impressed with Maloney’s progression.

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“We are really happy with how Zane went,” revealed Huntingford. “Last year was his rookie season and he is developing well, and we are really hoping that this year he is going to carry on with his good form and we will get some great results. He has been sharing his experience with Ritomo and the guys have been working really well together.”

“Sharing his experience” with Miyata will be a big part of Maloney’s role this year and it appears to be one that he has taken to very easily as he is often seen helping the Japanese driver where he can.

Miyata previously also revealed how much of a big help Maloney has played in his adaptation to his new surroundings, labelling him a “nice” and “kind” teammate.

Maloney will also help serve as a good reference point out on track for Miyata, who quietly went about his work in a professional manner in Sakhir. He completed 165 laps across the three days which was an impressive showing considering how limited running was on day one thanks to the rain.

Huntingford is pleased with his constant improvement so far considering all the change he is adjusting to since his move to F2 from Super Formula in Japan.

“It’s a big change for him from what he has been used to,” said Huntingford. “But he is getting on really well with the team and we've seen some really good improvements over the few days that we have been testing.”

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Rodin will no doubt be pleased with their Sakhir efforts, but it will be hard for them to truly know where they stand compared to their rivals until qualifying at the same venue later this month.

However, if it does translate, the team could be in a strong position to compete for pole positions and victories. But while Huntingford is not looking that far ahead just yet, he is remaining hopeful.

“It’s probably too early to tell,” said Huntingford when asked where Rodin are in the hierarchy. “But we are always hopeful and hopefully we can take this experience and build on it and turn it into some results.”