Hadrien David On Top Again for R-ace GP as Imola FRECA Test Concludes

For the second consecutive day at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Frenchman Hadrien David was the driver to beat, with the former Renault Sport Academy member ending fastest of all.

The R-ace GP ace topped the timesheets with a best lap of 1:37.954 in the afternoon session at Imola, with only two other drivers dipping below the ninety-eight-second barrier.

ART Grand Prix’s Gabriele Mini, the 2020 Italian Formula 4 champion, set the pace in the morning session with a 1:37.996, but the young Italian was not able to improve on his time in the afternoon.  Indeed, his lap time was equalled by R-ace GP’s Isack Hadjar!

Dino Beganovic was the best placed Prema Powerteam driver, with the young Swede placing fourth overall with a best time of 1:38.094, while ART Grand Prix’s Grégoire Saucy completed the top five, just 0.260 seconds off the best time of the day.

Arden’s William Alatalo was sixth ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing’s Francesco Pizzi, while KIC Motorsport, FA Racing and MP Motorsport all placed a driver inside the top ten.  Patrik Pasma of KIC Motorsport ended eighth ahead of FA Racing’s Andrea Rosso, while MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto completed the top ten.

Monolite Racing’s Pietro Delli Guanti just missed out on the top ten, with the Italian ending eleventh, less than four-tenths of a second off David’s day-setting lap time.  Such was the close nature of the field, the top twenty-three drivers were all within one second of the pace at the front!

Arden’s Alex Quinn, a race winner in Formula Renault Eurocup last year, was twelfth fastest on Thursday, just ahead of Mercedes-Benz protégé Paul Aron of Prema Powerteam and Zane Maloney of R-ace GP, while Thomas ten Brinke ended fifteenth in the third of the ART Grand Prix cars.

Elias Seppänen was sixteenth for KIC Motorsport ahead of MP Motorsport’s Kas Haverkort, while the top twenty was rounded out by DR Formula’s Gabriel Bortoleto, MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe, and JD Motorsport’s Eduardo Barrichello.

There were many red flags across the day caused by spins, accidents and mechanical issues, with Tommy Smith of JD Motorsport causing the first by spinning into the gravel at turn two.  Seppänen caused another with mechanical gremlins affecting his car, before a third red flag in the morning was caused by a crash by Goethe at turn twenty.

Delli Guanti caused a red flag in the afternoon as did KIC Motorsport’s Nico Göhler, both for mechanical issues.  Following her incident on Wednesday that caused damage to her hand, R-ace GP’s Léna Bühler did not take to the track on Thursday.

Testing continues at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya next week for two more days before the start of the inaugural Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine season.