Arjun Maini was quickest of day two of the second and final FIA Formula 2 pre-season test around the Bahrain International Circuit, finishing ahead of Jack Aitken and Nyck de Vries.
Maini, racing for Trident in 2018 after stepping up from the GP3 Series, was the only driver to set a time beneath 1:43s, with his 1:42.779s 0.224 seconds clear of ART Grand Prix’s Aitken, another GP3 graduate.
Day one pace setter de Vries ended up third for Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing, a further 0.077 seconds back on Aitken, while Luca Ghiotto of Campos Vexatec Racing was fourth ahead of Charouz Racing System’s Louis Delétraz.
George Russell, who along with team-mate Aitken, was the busiest driver of the morning session with each completing forty laps, ended sixth fastest ahead of Carlin’s Lando Norris, with the BWT Arden duo of Maximilian Günther and Nirei Fuzukumi eighth and tenth, either side of Russian Time’s Tadasuke Makino.
There were two red flags in that morning session, with Artem Markelov causing the first when he spun his Russian Time machine at turn eight, while Alexander Albon caused the second by stopping his DAMS machine at pit entry.
Race simulations were the name of the game in the afternoon, with no driver managing to get anywhere near their times from the morning session, but it was again a Trident driver who ended the session on top, but this time it was Santino Ferrucci.
Ferrucci’s best of 1:45.522s saw him edge out MP Motorsport’s Ralph Boschung into second place, while Maini completed a good day by placing third ahead of Delétraz and Norris.
Former Formula 1 racer Roberto Merhi was sixth fastest, also for MP Motorsport, ahead of Aitken, who was again the busiest driver of the session, adding fifty-two laps to his morning tally.
Antonio Fuoco was eighth fastest in the afternoon for Charouz Racing System ahead of Carlin’s Sergio Sette Câmara, while Fuzukumi again completed the top ten for BWT Arden.
Bahrain International Circuit Test Day 2 Results
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