F2: Verschoor tops the timesheet on Day 2 with quickest lap of Barcelona testing so far

MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor continued his impressive start to life in Formula 2, setting the fastest time of testing so far with a lap of 1:28.280, to put himself at the top of the leaderboard on Day 2 in Barcelona.

The Dutchman was one of the surprise packages of Round 1 with MP, finishing fifth in the second Sprint Race and fourth in the Feature, and has continued in the same vein in the second test of the year, following up yesterday’s top 10 finish with P1.

Ralph Boschung went second fastest with Campos Racing, 0.194s off the leading pace, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi’s Felipe Drugovich.

MORNING

Starting the day under the sizzling Spanish sun, the morning of Day 2 felt like an opportune time for Qualifying simulations. Sticking on fresh hard tyres, the field initially headed out to get a feel of the circuit, with MP’s Lirim Zendeli setting the early pace at 1:29.440, before being bumped down the order by Boschung, lapping just over two tenths quicker.

The majority of the field switched to medium tyres at around 10.30am, but their runs were briefly halted by a Red Flag after Roy Nissany spun at Turn 3 and found himself stuck in the gravel. Despite the spin, the DAMS still managed the sixth fastest time of the morning.

When the session resumed, Drugovich went top with the first sub 1m 29s time of the test. DAMS’ Marcus Armstrong dove into second shortly after and was backed up ART Grand Prix’s Théo Pourchaire. As more qualifying runs came in, the duo slid down the order and finished fourth and seventh.

Wearing fresh mediums, the second MP of Verschoor jumped to first, beating Drugovich’s time by 0.246s with a lap of 1:28.280. Before the session was up, Boschung nipped between the two to steal second, 0.194s off the leading time.

Bent Viscaal is bidding to earn a second round with Trident in Monaco and did his chances no harm with the fifth fastest time. Zendeli finished the morning in eighth, ahead of Day 1’s quickest driver, Christian Lundgaard. Liam Lawson completed the top 10 with Hitech Grand Prix.

AFTERNOON

Gianluca Petecof got things back underway in the afternoon, taking Campos to the top of the timesheet with a tour of 1:30.684 in the early stages.

After a qualifying simulation in the morning, the afternoon was much more focused on longer runs and data gathering, with Drugovich heading into second, 0.153s behind Petecof, with HWA RACELAB’s Matteo Nannini in third.

There were three disruptions in the second session the day, with Alessio Deledda spinning at Turns 12 and 1, while Robert Shwartzman stopped at Turn 3. The Russian was able to get back out there with PREMA, finishing 10th.

Charouz Racing System pairing David Beckmann and Guilherme Samaia went first and second when things got restarted, with times of 1:29.384 and 1:29.510.

Zendeli followed up a positive morning’s work with another strong showing in the afternoon, diving into sixth between Drugovich and Nannini. Lundgaard was eighth fastest in the afternoon with ART Grand Prix, ahead of Boschung.

The final day of testing will commence on Sunday at 9am local time.

MORNING SESSION

1 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 1:28.280 51
2 Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 1:28.474 32
3 Felipe Drugovich UNI-Virtuosi 1:28.544 45
4 Marcus Armstrong DAMS 1:28.670 35
5 Bent Viscaal Trident 1:28.675 39
6 Roy Nissany DAMS 1:28.698 36
7 Théo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 1:28.766 48
8 Lirim Zendeli MP Motorsport 1:28.801 41
9 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 1:28.805 49
10 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 1:28.810 40
11 Jüri Vips Hitech Grand Prix 1:28.872 53
12 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi 1:28.880 50
13 Jehan Daruvala Carlin 1:28.884 32
14 Gianluca Petecof Campos Racing 1:28.929 37
15 Dan Ticktum Carlin 1:29.012 34
16 Oscar Piastri PREMA Racing 1:29.059 25
17 Marino Sato Trident 1:29.175 32
18 Robert Shwartzman PREMA Racing 1:29.260 24
19 Guliherme Samaia Charouz Racing System 1:30.125 49
20 David Beckmann Charouz Racing System 1:30.194 44
21 Matteo Nannini HWA Racelab 1:30.855 27
22 Alessio Deledda HWA Racelab 1:32.721 26

AFTERNOON SESSION

1 David Beckmann Charouz Racing System 1:29.384 37
2 Guilherme Samaia Charouz Racing System 1:29.510 36
3 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 1:29.951 35
4 Gianluca Petecof Campos Racing 1:30.684 45
5 Felipe Drugovich UNI-Virtuosi 1:30.837 59
6 Lirim Zendeli MP Motorsport 1:30.928 33
7 Matteo Nannini HWA RACELAB 1:31.033 40
8 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 1:33.557 61
9 Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 1:34.356 41
10 Robert Shwartzman PREMA Racing 1:34.363 44
11 Théo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 1:34.497 59
12 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 1:34.658 49
13 Jüri Vips Hitech Grand Prix 1:34.668 51
14 Bent Viscaal Trident 1:34.711 43
15 Roy Nissany DAMS 1:34.806 59
16 Oscar Piastri PREMA Racing 1:34.907 41
17 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi 1:35.052 55
18 Marino Sato Trident 1:35.196 45
19 Marcus Armstrong DAMS 1:35.270 50
20 Jehan Daruvala Carlin 1:35.278 39
21 Dan Ticktum Carlin 1:35.607 39
22 Alessio Deledda HWA RACELAB 1:36.174 43