TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2020 16 Daruvala, Lawson lead on day two and top the times on second day of F2, F3 tests at BIC

TDT | Manama day during the cooler, afternoon con- both series. The Formula 2 competitors ditions around BIC’s 5.412-kilometre will be out on track from 11.45am to ehan Daruvala and Liam Law - Grand Prix track. 2.15pm and then from 5.15pm to 7.45pm, son topped the timesheets on the The Formula 2 and Formula 3 teams while the Formula 3 drivers will kick off Jsecond day of Formula 2 and For- are using these tests as part of their the day’s action from 9am to 11.30am mula 3 pre-season testing on Monday preparations for the start of their and then again from 2.30pm to 5pm for at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) respective 2020 seasons. Their first their afternoon run. in Sakhir. rounds will be held in support of this For Formula 2, Daruvala set the day’s Daruvala of Carlin set the pace year’s Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand benchmark at one minute 41.260 sec- amongst the Formula 2 runners, while Prix, taking place March 19 to 22 at BIC. onds, which was more than six-tenths Lawson of was the Testing is scheduled to continue for of a second quicker than the best time fastest of the Formula 3 challengers. one final day on Tuesday (Editor’s note: set during the first day of tests. He com- They each posted their best laps of the March 3) with the final two sessions for pleted 23 laps in the late afternoon ses- sion as day turned into night and BIC’s state-of-the-art floodlights came on. of UNI-Virtuosi fol- lowed with a best time of 1:41.377 and 29 laps done, while day one leader Pe- dro Piquet of Charouz Racing System was third with a 1:41.491 mark and 24 Louis Deletraz of Charouz Racing System speeds past BIC’s Sakhir Tower during testing yesterday laps in total. Mick Schumacher of PREMA Racing Aitken and Markelov’s teammate Gi- Sargeant of PREMA Racing, Lawson’s was classified fourth, while rounding uliano Alesi. teammate , and Oscar out the top six from the 22-car field For Formula 3, Lawson put Hitech Piastri, also of PREMA. were Sergey Sirotkin of ART Grand Prix in first place amongst the 30 testers for In the morning, David Schumacher and of Campos Racing. the day with a best lap of 1:46.365 and of Charouz Racing System was quickest In the morning tests, Hitech Grand 25 laps completed in his afternoon run. with a best lap time of 1:47.461 in 30 Prix teammates and Lawson improved on the best overall laps. Sebastian Fernandez of ART Grand had an impressive one- lap time set on day one. Prix followed closely in 1:47.482, also two with only 0.005s separating the Clement Novalak of Carlin Buzz Rac- with 30 laps, while Schumacher’s team- pair. Mazepin had a fastest time of ing came second with a 1:46.884 lap mate Niko Kari was third with a time of 1:43.825 in 19 laps while Ghiotto’s best with 35 laps of work, while Alexander 1:47.630 after completing 40 laps. was 1:43.830 in completing 29 laps. Peroni of Campos Racing was classified Fourth through sixth, respectively, Artem Markelov of BWT HWA Racelab third with a 1:46.902 time and 37 laps were of Trident, Novalak Mick Schumacher tests his PREMA Racing car late in the afternoon session was third with a lap of 1:43.882, while of testing. and Theo Pourchaire of ART Grand rounding out the top six were Zhou, Completing the top six were Logan Prix.

AlphaTauri boss Amir Albazi fights Abdul Hussein for a spot at prefers Bahrain as F1 BRAVE CF Flyweight Tournament Group B winter test site TDT | Manama record of 12 wins and only one TDT | Manama loss, Amir “The Prince” Alba- Scandinavian clash will zi, is currently ranked #2 Fly- top Formula 1 official has Aearn the winner a spot at weight in the United Kingdom, Adescribed Bahrain as his the second bracket of BRAVE CF where he trains out of London preferred venue for Formula 1 prestigious Flyweight world ti- Shootfighters. In his last ap - winter testing. tle tournament. Sweden’s Amir pearance, Albazi defeated Ryan Franz Tost, team princi - Albazi and Finland’s Abdul Hus- Curtis with a first-round key pal of AlphaTauri, which has sein will clash in their home lock submission in November, rebranded from Toro Rosso, region, at BRAVE Combat Fed- 2019. told GPblog.com that Bahrain eration’s debut in Sweden, with Abdul “ABBA” Hussein holds is among the countries where BRAVE CF 37, scheduled for April a pro record of seven wins and it “makes more sense” to host 18 in Stockholm. only one loss. The Espoon Ke- the pre-season tests. Whoever emerges victorious hehait athlete is currently on a Barcelona is the tradition- of Albazi vs Hussain will join 3-win streak inside the BRAVE al host, with this year’s ses- the Group B of the BRAVE CF CF arena, with wins over Syl- sions being completed just last Franz Tost looks on during a race Flyweight Tournament, along- vester Chipfumbu, John Cris week. (file photo) side other three fighters yet to Corton, and Martin de Beer, the Tost was commented as be announced. The two match- most recent one at BRAVE CF 31 saying: “We were lucky with ly after two in the afternoon. es of the opposite side, Group in December, 2019. the weather this year. I was In terms of circumstances, a A, are already confirmed and BRAVE Combat Federation’s also here in Barcelona a few test in Bahrain is, therefore, will take place at BRAVE CF 35, debut in Sweden is scheduled years ago with the winter test more logical, but you also have in Brazil. Further down the for April 18, in the capital Stock- and then we had snow and it to take into account circum- road, the winner of Groups A holm. The fight night will be rained a lot. My personal opin- stances such as logistics. It is and B will meet and the win - promoted in association with ion is that a winter test in Abu easier and cheaper to bring the ner will be crowned the very the local Mixed Martial Arts Dhabi or Bahrain makes more parts to Barcelona from Italy first BRAVE CF Flyweight World powerhouse AK Fighting Cham- sense. or England.” Champion. With a professional pionship. “In those countries, we Bahrain has hosted pre-sea- almost always have good son testing a few times in the weather and we also drive past, as well as in-season test- under the same conditions ing, and the warm and stable as in a race. If the tyres work weather conditions have al- New Zealand thrash India by seven wickets to sweep series in Barcelona in the winter, it lowed more track time for the does not mean that they also participating Formula 1 teams Reuters | Christchurch The Black Caps dismissed the as New Zealand drove home a line. India are a world class side, work in Australia, Bahrain, to work on their cars without tourists for 124 in the first hour dominance that was only briefly top of the comp, so a great effort Vietnam or other places, be- interruption. ew Zealand romped to of the third day before chasing challenged over the two match- from the guys.” cause the temperature is too This year, BIC has been the Na seven-wicket victory down their 132-run victory tar- es in the series. India succumbed to their first low. site of pre-season testing for over India in the second test get with half of the test to spare “Outstanding,” said New Zea- two defeats in the World Test “We had a lot of wind prob- Formula 2 and Formula 3 as in Christchurch yesterday for for the loss of three wickets. land captain Kane Williamson. Championship but their big lems this year in Barcelona, well as for Formula 1 tyre sup- an emphatic 2-0 series sweep Henry Nicholls hit the win- “I don’t think the end result lead means their position at the where it is difficult to test and pliers Pirelli, which will be of the number one side in the ning run after his openers had reflected how tight that match top of the standings will not be the temperature drops quick- held during the season. world. done most of the heavy lifting was. As we know, there’s a fine threatened any time soon.