In a repeat of Thursday’s opening test day, Jack Clarke and Benjamin Lariche set the quickest laps around the Portimao circuit in the Algarve.
Although conditions favoured the Briton during Thursday mornings running, Clarke simply set the quickest lap on his final tour before the chequered flag dropped for lunch; however Lariche was only 0.01 of-a-second shy. In 3rd was Ramón Piñeiro – the Spaniard jumped Joylon Palmer late on, but remained very close to the leading pair.
Having another strong day was Thiemo Storz, despite only completing 18 laps, the German driver took 5th on the standings, half-a-second down on Clarke.
Lariche made the jump to the top of the time charts in the post-lunch session. The 23-year-old Frenchman just topped Alex Brundle (+0.103 of-a-second) and Clarke (+0.166) as the test drew to a close. Piñeiro and Palmer were also quick for a while until late session runs dropped down them order somewhat; however both were still comfortably faster than 6th fastest man, Max Snegirev.
Polish racer, Natalia Kowalska had been running reasonably quick times during the day, but she was forced to curtail her run early on. Suffering from the remaining pain from a damaged wrist, she set a time 1.886 seconds slower that Lariche’s ultimate pace; however her time was recorded without power boost or fresh tyres.
There were only thirteen runners throughout the second day. Sadly Nigel Moore and Adriano Buzaid had to relinquish their F2 tests, as adverse weather conditions made it impossible to travel from the UK.
Next week, Formula 2 testing moves to Barcelona, after which the Series will officially pack up for the year and with Christmas getting alarmingly close, it’s about time.
Day Two, Morning Session:
1. Jack Clarke, 1:35.698s
2. Benjamin Lariche, +0.010s
3. Ramón Piñeiro, +0.177s
4. Jolyon Palmer, +0.243s
5. Thiemo Storz, +0.533s
6. Alex Brundle, +0.796s
7. André Negrão, +0.983s
8. Natalia Kowalska, +1.032s
9. Plamen Kralev, +1.246s
10. Max Snegirev, +1.273s
11. Mikkel Mac, +1.427s
12. Jose Alonso Liste, +1.438s
13. Bruno Mendez, +2.123s
Day Two, Evening Session:
1. Benjamin Lariche, 1:34.619s
2. Alex Brundle, +0.103s
3. Jack Clarke, +0.166s
4. Ramón Piñeiro, +0.395s
5. Jolyon Palmer, +0.497s
6. Max Snegirev, +1.023s
7. Mikkel Mac, +1.080s
8. Bruno Mendez, +1.146s
9. Jose Alonso Liste, +1.483s
10. André Negrão, +1.611s
11. Thiemo Storz, +1.636s
12. Plamen Kralev, +1.819s
13. Natalia Kowalska, +1.886s
