Victor Martins dominates day two of FIA F3 Barcelona test

The MP Motorsport driver led the morning session at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona on Thursday with a time of 1m31.636s – the fastest time across the test.

He was followed by ART GP’s Alexandr Smolyar with a 1m31.768s and Trident’s Jack Doohan on 1m31.803s, while Charouz’s Logan Sargeant came in fourth.

Alpine Academy member Martins, who won last year’s Formula Renault Eurocup championship, also set the best time on Wednesday, with a 1m31.743s set during the afternoon session.

Conditions were drier on the second day after a damp start on Wednesday.

Quickest during the afternoon session on Thursday was Jenzer Motorsport’s Calan Williams with a 1m32.518s, followed by Hitech driver and Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa with 1m32.988s.

Williams’ team-mate Pierre-Louis Chovet came in third, while Iwasa’s team-mate Roman Stanek was fourth.

The last session of this round of testing was red-flagged with just five minutes to go after ART GP driver and Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti stopped in sector 3, shortly before Dennis Hauger of Prema also stopped on track.

The 30-strong field assembled for the second round of testing on Wednesday, after an earlier test at the Red Bull Ring ahead of the 21-race season.

Running on Wednesday and Thursday, the two days of testing was split into a morning and afternoon session, with a total of 12 hours of track time available.

Teams are testing on Pirelli’s P Zero hard tyres, the same compound that the drivers will race on at the opening round next month.

The two days of track time came at the circuit that will host the 2021 season opener, alongside the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, from 7-9 May.

There will also be a third round of testing following the first race, this time at the Jerez circuit on 12-13 May.