Liam Lawson put Hitech Grand Prix at the top of the standings for the second day of pre-season testing, with the Kiwi continuing to impress in his new surroundings, having made the switch from MP Motorsport. Clement Novalak came in at second, as Alex Peroni – who impressed with P2 yesterday – completed the top three.

There was a much dustier and drier feeling to the air on day two of pre-season testing, with extremely windy conditions, as the field began their installation laps of the Bahrain International Circuit. Sebastián Fernandez and Sophia Flörsch were amongst the first to enjoy a spot at the top of the times, as they showed initial flashes of speed.

Théo Pourchaire followed suit in the second ART and set the morning benchmark at 1:48.714. The Frenchman put in seven laps prior to the 20-minute mark, before heading back to the pits to discuss the data discovered from his runs.

Fernandez reclaimed the fastest lap from his teammate shortly before a brief pause in action, when Matteo Nannini stopped on track and brought out a red flag. Fernandez was propped up by Carlin Buzz rookie Novalak and ART teammate Pourchaire.

David Schumacher spent the majority of Day 1 around the midfield of the running order, but seemed much more settled on the second day, as he emerged in first with a time of 1m 47s with 45 minutes to go. The German wasn’t be budged from top spot and finished ahead of Fernandez and Niko Kari.

Nannini was one of 18 cars to hit the track straight away in the afternoon session, and the quickest too, with the Italian racer heading up a front trio with Peroni and Frederik Vesti.

Jake Hughes joined the field for the first time in testing, having missed the first day and half due to prior commitments, and was immediately quick.

In a similar fashion to Day 1, Hitech duo Lawson and Max Fewtrell flicked their pace on like a switch and leapt to P1 and P2 with their first fast runs of the afternoon. The Kiwi spent a bulk of time at the top of the table, before being overtaken by Nannini, as the Jenzer racer returned to the top.

With half an hour to go, the laptimes began to fly in. Pourchaire, Fernandez, and Devlin DeFrancesco all thundered round for fast laps, before Hughes once again took his turn at the summit, with a time of 1:47.200. The Briton was well and truly back in the swing of things, as he searched for ways to push both himself and HWA on in their second season in F3.

Novalak and Peroni followed this up with fast times of their own, as they overtook Hughes in the table with times beneath the 1m 47s mark. Lawson was able to fight his way back up to first, as the competitiveness increased and dropped below those set on Day 1.

The session was brought to a halt as Kari stopped on track, with too little time left to resume testing. That confirmed Lawson as the day’s fastest man, ahead of Novalak, Peroni, Logan Sargeant and Dennis Hauger. Completing the top ten were Oscar Piastri, Hughes, Pourchaire, Fernandez and DeFrancesco.

The field will have one final time to test out the cars before the start of the 2020 campaign tomorrow, on the final day of pre-season testing, starting at 9am.

Pre-season tests, Day 2, morning session

1st – David Schumacher (Charouz Racing System), 1:47.461
2nd – Sebastian Fernandez (ART Grand Prix), 1:47.482
3rd – Niko Kari (Charouz Racing System), 1:47.630
4th – Lirim Zendeli (Trident), 1:47.659
5th – Clement Novalak (Carlin Buzz Racing), 1:47.689
6th – Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix), 1:47.790
7th – Logan Sargeant (PREMA Racing), 1:47.793
8th – Oscar Piastri (PREMA Racing), 1:47.838
9th – Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport), 1:47.933
10th – Devlin DeFrancesco (Trident), 1:48.007
11th – Liam Lawson (Hitech Grand Prix), 1:48.021
12th – Sophia Floersch (Campos Racing), 1:48.065
13th – Frederik Vesti (PREMA Racing), 1:48.133
14th – Alexander Smolyar (ART Grand Prix), 1:48.155
15th – Igor Fraga (Charouz Racing System), 1:48.170
16th – Max Fewtrell (Hitech Grand Prix), 1:48.184
17th – Enaam Ahmed (Carlin Buzz Racing), 1:48.253
18th – Olli Caldwell (Trident), 1:48.358
19th – Enzo Fittipaldi (HWA RACELAB), 1:48.461
20th – Cameron Das (Carlin Buzz Racing), 1:48.568
21st – Federico Malvestiti (Jenzer Motorsport), 1:48.593
22nd – Calan Williams (Jenzer Motorsport), 1:48.599
23rd – Bent Viscaal (MP Motorsport), 1:48.602
24th – Dennis Hauger (Hitech Grand Prix), 1:48.669
25th – Alessio Deledda (Campos Racing), 1:48.915
26th – Lukas Dunner (MP Motorsport), 1:48.929
27th – Jack Doohan (HWA RACELAB), 1:49.135
28th – Matteo Nannini (Jenzer Motorsport), 1:49.415
29th – Alexander Peroni (Campos Racing), 1:49.838

Pre-season tests, Day 2, afternoon session

1st – Liam Lawson (Hitech Grand Prix), 1:46.365
2nd – Clement Novalak (Carlin Buzz Racing), 1:46.884
3rd – Alexander Peroni (Campos Racing), 1:46.902
4th – Logan Sargeant (PREMA Racing), 1:46.936
5th – Dennis Hauger (Hitech Grand Prix), 1:47.068
6th – Oscar Piastri (PREMA Racing), 1:47.090
7th – Jake Hughes (HWA RACELAB), 1:47.200
8th – Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix), 1:47.201
9th – Sebastian Fernandez (ART Grand Prix), 1:47.261
10th – Devlin DeFrancesco (Trident), 1:47.264
11th – Max Fewtrell (Hitech Grand Prix), 1:47.339
12th – Sophia Floersch (Campos Racing), 1:47.436
13th – Matteo Nannini (Jenzer Motorsport), 1:47.533
14th – Enzo Fittipaldi (HWA RACELAB), 1:47.538
15th – Olli Caldwell (Trident), 1:47.690
16th – Federico Malvestiti (Jenzer Motorsport), 1:47.763
17th – Jack Doohan (HWA RACELAB), 1:47.781
18th – Frederik Vesti (PREMA Racing), 1:47.798
19th – Calan Williams (Jenzer Motorsport), 1:47.908
20th – Cameron Das (Carlin Buzz Racing), 1:47.996
21st – Enaam Ahmed (Carlin Buzz Racing), 1:48.324
22nd – Alessio Deledda (Campos Racing), 1:48.983
23rd – Niko Kari (Charouz Racing System), 1:50.866
24th – Lirim Zendeli (Trident), 1:51.070
25th – David Schumacher (Charouz Racing System), 1:51.076
26th – Alexander Smolyar (ART Grand Prix), 1:51.120
27th – Igor Fraga (Charouz Racing System), 1:51.134
28th – Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport), 1:51.204
29th – Lukas Dunner (MP Motorsport), 1:51.304
30th – Bent Viscaal (MP Motorsport), 1:51.721