PRACTICE: Doohan at home quickly to lead in Melbourne

Jack Doohan found no trouble getting up to speed at his home race, setting a 1:28.989 to end Practice fastest by three-tenths of a second. The Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver was one of the first on track and spent the almost the entirety of the session in the top spot, finding improvements lap after lap.

Isack Hadjar ended up P2 for Hitech Pulse-Eight, with both of the team’s drivers looking comfortable around the Albert Park circuit. Teammate Jak Crawford was P4, with ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins splitting the duo in third.

After laps to bring tyres up to temperature, Ayumu Iwasa set the initial time to beat with a 1:32.927. That was promptly bettered by Jack Doohan on a 1:31.487 to put the Australian top of the pile early on.

The first Red Flag of the F2 weekend was out shortly afterwards following a spin for Roy Nissany. The PHM Racing by Charouz driver picked up a bit of grass on entry to the final corner which put him into a spin and into the barriers coming into the main straight.

Practice was resumed with 21 minutes left of the session and the track was immediately busy once more. A flurry of improvements followed as the two Hitech Pulse-Eight drivers took turns at the top. Crawford was the first to dip into the 1:30s before teammate Isack Hadjar beat that effort with a 1:30.749 of his own.

Another Red Flag following another spin at the final corner followed, this time Jehan Daruvala the one facing the wrong way. The MP Motorsport driver repeated Nissany’s earlier error but avoided contact with any barriers. Unfortunately for the Indian driver, he couldn’t get going once again and the session was brought to a halt once more.

The green light was back on with just over 10 minutes to go and everyone keen to log some more laps ahead of Qualifying. Home favourite Doohan was immediately on the pace and went to the top on a 1:30.132. The Hitech duo both kept the Invicta Virtuosi Racing man in their sights, improving to second and third and remaining within a tenth of the top time.

The Australian was looking quick as the clock ticked towards the chequered flag and he was the first into the 1:29s. That was beaten one lap later as he moved onto a 1.28.989 to end the session quickest of all.

A spin for Oliver Bearman at Turn 1 inside the final minute brought out the third Red Flag of the session and ended the morning running.

Victor Martins improved just before that to go third quickest ahead of Crawford, while Enzo Fittipaldi made it into the top five in his Rodin Carlin. Bearman ended up P6 even with his spin ahead of Iwasa, Zane Maloney, Richard Verschoor and Boschung.