F3 Bahrain: Bortoleto fastest in first practice of 2023 season
3rd March 2023Trident driver Gabriel Bortoleto topped the first practice session of the season while Jenzer Racing’s Taylor Barnard goes under investigation for his team’s assistance at the pit exit.
In usual fashion, when the pit exit light went green, the majority of the Formula 3 grid launched into the pit lane to head out onto the Bahrain International Circuit. However, after five minutes, no one set a lap time on the board as the drivers all went out for installation laps.
After 15 minutes of running, some lap times were being set on the board as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Tommy Smith put in the first – and fastest – lap on the timing board (1:50.804) ahead of Jenzer Racing’s rookies: Nikita Bedrin, Taylor Barnard and Alejandro Garcia who were second, third and fourth in the timing sheets respectively.
With 24 minutes left on the board, the bulk of the F3 drivers finally peeled out back onto the track to put in some competitive runs.
As the circuit continued to evolve, and lap times started to tumble, Trident’s Gabriel Bortoleto jumped to the top of the timing sheets (1:47.775) and continued to improve his lap times, ahead of Hitech’s Gibriele Mini and ART’s Gregoire Saucy who were second and third respectively.
When the session went into its final 10 minutes, the bulk of the field pulled back into the pit lane. However, it wasn’t long until the drives ventured out on track for their last runs.
Barnard was put under investigation before the session was even over to end the first session of the year for having personnel out on track. It was soon found that a mechanic for Jenzer Racing had crossed the white line to sort out an issue with Barnard’s car.
Race control stated they will investigate the incident after the session.
Top three:
- Gabriel Bortoleto, Trident
- Gibriele Mini, Hitech
- Gregoire Saucy, ART
That’s it for the article: F3 Bahrain: Bortoleto fastest in first practice of 2023 season!
What do you think the punishment will be for Jenzer Racing personnel crossing the white line at the pit exit? Let us know in the comments!
Read more F3 here
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
