Williams Racing Academy driver Luke Browning dominated the Formula 3 pre-season testing in Bahrain, emerging as the fastest driver in the final two days of running. The testing took place at the Sakhir International Circuit from Sunday, February 11 to Tuesday, February 13.
The first day of testing witnessed impressive performances from the rookies. Alex Dunne of MP Motorsport set the fastest time in a morning session affected by rain. In the afternoon session, Noel León of Van Amersfoort Racing took the lead with a time of 1:46.657s, completing 19 laps on a drier track. León’s time was 0.015s quicker than Oliver Goethe of Campos Racing, who completed 20 laps, and 0.171s faster than Tim Tramnitz of MP Motorsport, who completed 22 laps.
Expressing his satisfaction with his performance, the 2023 Euroformula Open Champion stated, “Really happy with the lap. We did an amazing job. Thanks to the team for the car. We still have two more days, but always happy to be on top.”
In all honesty, this was my first time back in the car since last year, so I was incredibly thrilled to be back. It’s a fantastic feeling, but we still have some work to do in order to be competitive on the remaining days. I’ve never driven in Bahrain before, so I’m currently in the process of learning the track.
Nevertheless, I’m overjoyed to have secured the top spot today. We still have more to learn and adjust to the track, as well as getting accustomed to the car once again. Overall, it’s been a really great day.
On the second day, the conditions improved, allowing the drivers to complete more laps. Following the conclusion of the morning session, Charlie Wurz from Jenzer Motorsport held the fastest laptime with a time of 1:46.963s after completing 30 laps.
In the afternoon, Browning from Hitech took the lead on the leaderboard, completing 32 laps and setting the fastest laptime at 1:46.819s. Browning’s time was only 0.066s quicker than Dunne from MP Motorsport, who completed 36 laps and continued to impress after topping the morning session on Sunday, which was affected by rain.
At the end of the second day’s running, Dunne’s teammate Tramnitz from MP Motorsport secured the third position with a time of 1:46.976s, 0.157s behind Browning’s time.
With a rookie campaign and a victory at the 2023 Macau Grand Prix, Browning will undoubtedly be a strong contender for the title in the 2024 season. After topping the second day of running, he expressed his ambitions for the championship.
“I’ve learned so much from last year to this year, it’s been a significant growth,” said the Williams Academy Driver. “I’m not only grateful for the support from Williams, but also for the structure and the team that surrounds me. We are in the right place, and I believe we have the right team to compete for the title this year.”
Day 3
The afternoon session of the three-day test was primarily focused on race runs, while the morning session on Tuesday determined the ultimate pace.
Browning continued to make an impression in the final morning session, setting the fastest lap time (1:46.566s) and completing the highest number of laps (35).
After completing 32 laps, Nikola Tsolov from ART Grand Prix secured the second fastest time with a time of 1:46.825s, followed by Max Esterson from Jenzer in third place with a fastest time of 1:46.836s across his 26 laps.
Martinis Stenshorne from ART GP took fourth place with a time of 1:46.979s and completed 31 laps, while León finished fifth with a time of 1:47.196s and 33 laps.
Laurens van Hoepen from ART GP secured sixth place with a time of 1:47.298s in his 32 laps.
Seventh place was taken by Sami Meguetounif from Trident with a time of 1:47.323s and 32 laps, followed by Leonardo Fornaroli (1:47.372s/28 laps) and Santiago Ramos (1:47.343s/28 laps).
Dunne completed the top 10 with a time of 1:47.381s and 30 laps.
In the afternoon session focused on race runs, Browning continued to perform well and solidified his position as the most impressive driver during testing.
The Hitech driver finished third in the afternoon session, completing 31 laps and setting a fastest time of 1:48.365s.
León from Van Amersfoort Racing secured second place, impressing once again after leading on the first day of testing.
The Mexican completed 29 laps and set a fastest time of 1:48.360s on Tuesday afternoon.
The final session was topped by Dino Beganovic from PREMA, who completed 33 laps at the Sakhir International Circuit and posted a fastest time of 1:48.285s.
Beganovic will return to F3 for a second campaign in 2024 with the highest standing among sophomore drivers from 2023.
After achieving four podium finishes and a sixth-place ranking last year, Beganovic was pleased with his race runs during the test, especially in the final session where he achieved the fastest lap.
“It was a positive test, and I’m really happy to be back on track after a long winter break,” he said.
“I haven’t been in the car since Macau, so I’m really happy to be back racing and driving the car.
“It has been an intense three days of testing, and we have definitely learned a lot. We now know what we need for the weekend here, which is really good.
“I’m happy about this, especially because we learned so much. Testing is not just about setting a good lap time, but it’s a bonus to achieve that. I’m happy to finish the test like this and have a good feeling heading into the race.
“Our race simulations looked pretty good, and it was nice to finish today with a good performance run. But I’m mainly happy that we learned so much from this test.”
The Formula 3 season will begin in Bahrain from February 29 to March 02.
According to the Source motorsportweek.com