Jack Doohan tops Day 1 test at Jerez

Jerez, 12, May 2021: Trident’s Jack Doohan carried over his form from the opening round of the season, leading both the morning and the afternoon stint on the opening day of testing in Jerez.

It was the Trident racer’s morning tour that finished at the top of the timesheets, with a time of 1:29.625 enough to beat out teammate Clement Novalak and ART Grand Prix’s Frederik Vesti.

MORNING

Making the trip from the Northeast of Spain to the Southwest, the F3 field followed up the opening round of the campaign in Barcelona with a two-day test in Jerez two days later, giving them a chance to build on what they’d learned.

Heading out at the first opportunity under the Spanish sun, MP Motorsport were amongst the busiest in the opening half an hour, with Tijmen Van der Helm the first man to top the leaderboard, before Caio Collet got the fast laps underway, setting the standard at 1:31.304. The Alpine junior continued in a similar vein throughout the session, eventually finishing in P8.

Juan Manuel Correa scored his first point in F3 during Race 2 at Barcelona and followed this up with a table-topping time on the opening morning in Jerez, setting a 1:30.754 to beat out ART Grand Prix teammate Vesti. Though Correa later dropped down the order and out of the top 10, Vesti was able to take P3 at the chequered flag.

Jonny Edgar and Calan Williams were the first drivers to break the 1m 30s barrier, doing so within seconds of each other, but it was the Carlin Buzz driver who went quickest, lapping at 1:29.991. The duo had fallen to fourth and seventh by the end of the session.

Setting the fastest time at the post-season tests in Jerez last October, Doohan put himself back at the top of the order with the quickest of the morning runs, lapping at 1:29.625, ahead of Trident teammate Novalak.

Alex Smolyar completed the top five ahead of Ayumu Iwasa. Pierre-Louis Chovet and Jak Crawford took the final two top 10 spots, finishing ninth and 10th.

AFTERNOON

Current Championship leader, Dennis Hauger, flexed his muscles at the start of the afternoon session, setting the pace at 1:31.405 ahead of Doohan and his PREMA teammate, Arthur Leclerc.

There was plenty of time to still be found around Jerez though, and Roman Stanek was the first to find it, overtaking the PREMA with a tour of 1:31.332, before his teammate, Iwasa leapt above him with the first sub-1m 31s time of the afternoon.

But it was the familiar name of Doohan who ended the session on top, following up his successful morning stint with the quickest time of the afternoon as well, lapping at 1:30.605 to drop Iwasa to P2.

It was an all-Red Bull academy top four as Jak Crawford claimed third ahead of Hauger, with Doohan’s teammate, Novalak, completing the top five. Edgar ensured that all of the Red Bull Juniors had a spot in the top 10, as he took P6 ahead of Leclerc and Collet.

Stanek had dropped to P9 by the time the session concluded, while Amaury Cordeel took the final place in the top 10.

2021 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – JEREZ TEST, DAY 1, MORNING SESSION**

2021 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – JEREZ TEST, DAY 1, AFTERNOON SESSION**

• Logan Sargeant (Charouz Racing System) did not take part in today’s sessions due to previous commitments