Gunther sets blistering pace

Manama : Maximillian Gunther of BWT Arden set the overall pace today on the third and final day of official Formula 2 pre-season testing at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir.

Gunther set the day’s best at 1min 42.756secs. He registered his mark midway during the morning session on the 12th of a total 28 laps. It was the fastest time of all three days of running around BIC’s 5.412-kilometre Grand Prix track.

In the afternoon, he had a time of 1min 44.145secs.

Louis Deletraz of Charouz Racing System had the second-fastest time of the day.

George Russell and Jack Aitken, both of ART Grand Prix, were third and fourth, respectively. Tadasuke Makino of Russian Time rounded out the top six on the day’s overall best times, all of which were set in the morning.

In the afternoon, Gunther’s BWT Arden teammate Nirei Fukuzumi had the quickest time of the session of 1min 43.430secs.

A total of 20 cars from all 10 Formula 2 teams took part in the Bahrain testing. They were the second of the pre-season for Formula 2, following the first held in Le Castellet, France at Circuit Paul Ricard earlier this month.

Testing was done in the brand new Formula 2 2018 chassis. The new Formula 2 season will be flagging off in the kingdom, in support of the Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix from April 6 to 8.

The FIA Formula 2 Championship is one of two support series to Formula 1 at this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The other is the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East.

For further information, visit bahraingp.com or call the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000.