Gabriele Minì excelled in the morning and afternoon sessions on the opening day of Formula 3 in-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Italian PREMA Racing driver set the fastest lap of the morning with a time of 1:28.313, edging out Trident’s Sami Meguetounif by a mere 0.086 seconds.
Minì continued his impressive form into the afternoon, registering the day’s best time of 1:28.394 to finish ahead of the pack once more, with Campos Racing’s Mari Boya following closely in second.
Morning Session
The session began with a subdued start as teams carried out single installation laps to ensure their cars were set up correctly. Initial times were conservative, with Jenzer Motorsport’s Charlie Wurz first setting a benchmark of 1:29.122.
As the session progressed and more rubber laid down on the track, the times began to fall. The leaderboard saw frequent changes with Luke Browning, Santiago Ramos, and Mari Boya each spending time at the top as they improved on their lap times.
Towards the final hour, Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli put in a strong lap of 1:28.831, but this was soon surpassed by Alex Dunne on a 1:28.577.
However, Minì, shaved the leading time down to 1:28.313. His lap remained unmatched for the rest of the session, with Meguetounif finishing a close second and Wurz rounding out the top three spots.
Afternoon Session
The later session had a quiet start, with Mari Boya setting an early pace with a lap of 1:28.625. This time stood as the one to beat for much of the session, with his teammate Sebastián Montoya initially two-tenths behind.
The dynamics changed dramatically in the final hour as Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning closed the gap to just 0.050 seconds behind Boya. However, in the last 20 minutes, Minì took the lead again by posting a 1:28.394, outpacing Boya by over two-tenths of a second.
The session was abruptly cut short following a red flag, caused by Jenzer Motorsport’s Max Esterson who had an off at Turn 3. Consequently, the day concluded with Minì at the top, followed by Boya and Browning.
The test continues at 09:00 local time on Wednesday, with teams and drivers keen to build on the insights gained from today’s running at the Barcelona circuit.
