F3 Pre-Season Test: Hitech’s Isack Hadjar sets early pace in Bahrain whilst Prema find themselves down the order

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Hitech’s new boy Isack Hadjar was the early pacesetter in Bahrain with chart-topping times on Day Two and Three in F3’s pre-season test in Bahrain.

The Frenchman won the award for the best rookie in the 2021 Formula Regional Championship where he finished fifth and will hope to carry his positive momentum from last year and pre-season testing into race running in Sakhir.

Prema, who missed out on the 2021 constructors’ championship to Trident despite powering Dennis Hauger to the drivers’ title, struggled to reach the summit of the standings as their best position of the test was second courtesy of Jak Crawford’s 1:47.628 in day three’s morning session, which was almost four-tenths down on leader Hadjar.

Day One

Rookie Zane Maloney topped the Day One timesheet as the Trident driver set a 1:47.614 in the afternoon session. The Barbadian driver completed 31 laps throughout the day and was just under two-tenths clear of fellow rookie William Alatalo and Prema’s Crawford in third.

Victor Martins and Arthur Leclerc, two drivers who won F3 races in 2021, ended Day One in sixth and seventh. The latter came into the test in Bahrain fresh off the back of winning the Formula Regional Asian Championship.

Oliver Bearman, a driver who is amongst the favourites to win this season’s F3 title, ended the first day of testing in ninth with an afternoon best of 1:48.051.

Another driver who won races in 2021, MP Motorsport’s Alexander Smolyar, ended Day One in 13th with a morning best of 1:48.144.

His teammate Ciao Collet completed the most laps on the first day with 63 laps after lengthy runs in both of the day’s sessions.

Van Amersfoort Racing ended their first day in F3 with Argentinian rookie Franco Colapinto in fifth, Brit Reece Ushijima in eighth and Mexican Rafael Villagomez in 27th.

Full Day One classification: Maloney, Alatalo, Crawford, Stanek, Colapinto, Martins, Leclerc, Ushijima, Bearman, Saucy, Hadjar, Frederick, Smolyar, Pizzi, Edgar, Pizzi, Edgar, Marti, Pasma, Maini, Cohen, O’Sullivan, Simmons, Yeany, Collet, Trulli, Toth, Benavides, Villagomez, Vidales, Azman

Day Two

Hadjar finished the second day on top after setting an impressive 1:47.516 in the morning session.

ART enjoyed a day of productive running with Martins in second, Saucy in fourth and Juan Manuel Correa in fifth as the three drivers circulated a collective 238 laps on the second day of testing.

Brit Jonny Edgar’s relative pace improved on Day Two as he ended the day in third with a 1:47.629 which the Trident driver set in the morning session.

The Italian-based team ended Thursday’s running with all three of their drivers in the top 12 as the aforementioned Edgar finished third, Maloney in sixth and Roman Stanek in 12th.

Prema drivers Crawford, Leclerc and Bearman could only find time for ninth, 11th and 15th respectively as the trio completed around 60 laps each throughout the day.

Enzo Trulli was the only driver to set his best Day Two time in the afternoon as he did not take to the track in the morning due to an engine fire, however, the Italian completed 32 laps in the second part of the day.

Saucy completed a staggering 82 laps in his ART car, the most of anyone on Day Two, with 45 laps completed in the morning and 37 laps in the afternoon.

Full Day Two classification: Hadjar, Martins, Edgar, Saucy, Correa, Maloney, Smolyar, O’Sullivan, Crawford, Alatalo, Leclerc, Stanek, Collet, Colapinto, Bearman, Frederick, Pasma, Maini, Cohen, Yeany, Ushijima, Benavides, Simmons, Marti, Azman, Vidales, Toth, Villagomez, Pizzi, Trulli

Day Three

Hadjar was once again at the top of the testing timesheet on Day Three with his morning best of 1:47.247, the quickest time posted across the three days in Bahrain.

The Frenchman was close to eight-tenths quicker than teammate Kaylen Frederick’s best time in eighth and over a second faster than his other teammate Nazim Azman’s best lap in 25th.

MP Motorsport duo Collet and Smolyar were inside the top five with their morning times, but Kush Maini could only find the pace for 16th. Despite this, the Indian was under a second slower than Hadjar’s quickest time and under three-tenths down on Smolyar’s best lap.

Saucy and Martins were inside the top 10 for ART, with Correa just a tenth behind in 15th.

The pack on the final day of the Bahrain test was incredibly tight, with fourth to 17th split by around half a second.

Zak O’Sullivan once again flew the flag for Carlin in ninth as his teammates Trulli and Benavides finished the day in 27th and 29th respectively.

Prema were spread out across the field on the final day with Crawford in second place, Leclerc in 11th and Bearman in 23rd.

Edgar and Villagomez completed 80 laps apiece on Day Three of the Bahrain test, with both drivers completing similar length runs in the morning and afternoon sessions.

Full Day Three classification: Hadjar, Crawford, Saucy, Collet, Smolyar, Vidales, Martins, Frederick, O’Sullivan, Stanek, Leclerc, Alatalo, Marti, Maloney, Correa, Maini, Cohen, Colapinto, Ushijima, Pizzi, Pasma, Edgar, Bearman, Villagomez, Azman, Yeany, Trulli, Simmons, Benavides, Toth

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