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F3 - Collet breaks F3 track record at the Red Bull Ring to end Spielberg pre-season tests on top

04.04.21

F3 - 2021 Pre-Season Testing - Day 2

The Formula 3 lap record around the Red Bull Ring was broken three times on Day 2, as Alpine junior Caio Collet finished the Spielberg pre-season tests on top with MP Motorsport, beating PREMA’s Dennis Hauger and Hitech Grand Prix’s Jak Crawford.

Jenzer Motorsport’s Calan Williams initially broke Alex Smolyar’s record lap – set on Day 1 - during a Qualifying run in the morning session, but a fresh set of tyres in the afternoon session saw the quickest time plummet even further, as Collet, Hauger, Crawford and Jonny Edgar all posted faster times.

 

MORNING

A sprinkling of snow made for some great Instagram stories in Spielberg, but left the field stuck in the garages at the start of Day 2. Campos Racing and Jenzer both attempted install laps, but retuned to their garages without setting a time.

MP Motorsport were the first to brave the track when the snow stopped shortly after the hour mark and punched in solid laptimes, led by Victor Martins’ benchmark of 1:20.785. Hitech were amongst those to follow them out and quickly sliced the best time down to 1:19.278, thanks to Crawford.

The remainder of the field all hit the circuit from there and the times continued to tumble. Martins briefly returned to the summit before Williams became just the second F3 driver to break the 1m 19s barrier around the Red Bull Ring, snatching P1 with a lap of 1:18.836 – 0.058s better than Smolyar’s record-breaking time on Day 1.

Matteo Nannini and Kaylen Frederik both joined him in doing so shortly after with HWA RACELAB and Carlin Buzz Racing, sneaking into second and third. Having both led at one stage, Martins and Crawford enjoyed another attempt and set sub 1m 19s times as well, completing the top five.

TIjmen Van der Helm’s MP Motorsport stopped on the gravel bed at Turn 6 in the final hour, before Jack Doohan’s Trident suffered a similar fate at Turn 7, just 15 minutes before the chequered flag.

Charouz Racing System duo Michael Below and Logan Sargeant were the final two drivers to run below 1m 19s in sixth and seventh, ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Frederik Vesti. David Schumacher and Collet completed the top 10 with Trident and MP.

 

AFTERNOON

Returning to clear skies on the final afternoon of testing, Edgar jumped straight back into his Carlin Buzz machine and hit the track at the first opportunity, opening with a tour of 1:19.094, ahead of Crawford.

The 15-year-old American switched things up a notch on his next flying lap, becoming the second driver to break the F3 lap record around the Red Bull Ring on Day 2 with a tour of 1:18.775. Fellow Red Bull junior Hauger attempted to take the record from him just moments later with PREMA, but marginally missed out.

The Norwegian enjoyed a more successful effort on his next tour, but still had to settle for second thanks to a stomping lap from MP Motorsport’s Collet, who beat Hauger by nearly two tenths to take P1, dropping Crawford and Edgar to third and fourth.

There were two brief stoppages during the afternoon as Williams spun at Turn 10, before Ayumu Iwasa stopped down the main straight.

Nannini continued his solid pre-season form by taking fifth place ahead of ART’s Frederik Vesti. Clement Novalak took seventh with Trident, while Belov punched in another top 10 time with Charouz. Day 1’s quickest driver, Smolyar, completed the top 10 ahead of Olli Caldwell.

F3 will return for another two-day pre-season test in Barcelona on 21-22 April, ahead of the season opener there the following month.

2020 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - PRE-SEASON TESTS, DAY 2, MORNING SESSION

 DRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS
1Calan WilliamsJenzer Motorsport1:18.83630
2Matteo NanniniHWA RACELAB1:18.85825
3Kaylen FrederickCarlin Buzz Racing1:18.90130
4Victor MartinsMP Motorsport1:18.91234
5Jak CrawfordHitech Grand Prix1:18.91532
6Michael BelovCharouz Racing System1:18.94331
7Logan SargeantCharouz Racing System1:18.98131
8Frederik VestiART Grand Prix1:19.01537
9David SchumacherTrident1:19.08624
10Caio ColletMP Motorsport1:19.09932
11Juan Manuel CorreaART Grand Prix1:19.18933
12Jonny EdgarCarlin Buzz Racing1:19.24417
13Oliver RasmussenHWA RACELAB1:19.27723
14Jack DoohanTrident1:19.32327
15Clément NovalakTrident1:19.38322
16Ido CohenCarlin Buzz Racing1:19.40530
17Ayumu IwasaHitech Grand Prix1:19.51033
18Roman StanekHitech Grand Prix1:19.59120
19Rafael VillagomezHWA RACELAB1:19.59932
20Alexandr SmolyarART Grand Prix1:19.61632
21Reshad de GerusCharouz Racing System1:19.62543
22Amaury CordeelCampos Racing1:19.63937
23Filip UgranJenzer Motorsport1:19.67037
24Olli CaldwellPREMA Racing1:19.71731
25Pierre-Louis ChovetJenzer Motorsport1:19.74442
26László TóthCampos Racing1:19.82240
27Lorenzo ColomboCampos Racing1:19.88829
28Dennis HaugerPREMA Racing1:20.04730
29Tijmen van der HelmMP Motorsport1:20.14221
30Arthur LeclercPREMA Racing1:20.32931

2020 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - PRE-SEASON TESTS, DAY 2, AFTERNOON SESSION

 DRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS
1Caio ColletMP Motorsport1:18.59257
2Dennis HaugerPREMA Racing1:18.71148
3Jak CrawfordHitech Grand Prix1:18.77563
4Jonny EdgarCarlin Buzz Racing1:18.79150
5Matteo NanniniHWA RACELAB1:18.86646
6Frederik VestiART Grand Prix1:18.88052
7Clément NovalakTrident1:18.88635
8Michael BelovCharouz Racing System1:18.89447
9Olli CaldwellPREMA Racing1:18.99344
10Alexandr SmolyarART Grand Prix1:19.00550
11Amaury CordeelCampos Racing1:19.03042
12Roman StanekHitech Grand Prix1:19.05467
13Logan SargeantCharouz Racing System1:19.20445
14Pierre Louis ChovetJenzer Motorsport1:19.29647
15Oliver RasmussenHWA RACELAB1:19.31145
16Ayumu IwasaHitech Grand Prix1:19.34550
17Calan WilliamsJenzer Motorsport1:19.41035
18Arthur LeclercPREMA Racing1:19.41552
19Juan Manuel CorreaART Grand Prix1:19.45747
20Jack DoohanTrident1:19.50945
21David SchumacherTrident1:19.57839
22Filip UgranJenzer Motorsport1:19.66444
23Rafael VillagomezHWA RACELAB1:19.71847
24Lorenzo ColomboCampos Racing1:19.75637
25Reshad de GerusCharouz Racing System1:19.80140
26László TóthCampos Racing1:19.93554
27Kaylen FrederickCarlin Buzz Racing1:20.25344
28Tijmen van der HelmMP Motorsport1:20.30243
29Ido CohenCarlin Buzz Racing1:20.54347