Kiwi Liam Lawson built on his strong performance in the first day of testing, leading the way for the Hitech Grand Prix team in day two.
The conditions were much windier than yesterday causing a dustier environment for the drivers. Among the first drivers to show their speed was Sebastian Fernandez and Sophia Florsch. Theo Pourchaire also demonstrated his speed in the ART and set the early benchmark of a 1:48.714.
Fernandez reclaimed the fastest time just before the red flag was brought out after Matteo Nannini had stopped out on track.
With 45 minutes to go, David Schumacher was the first driver to go below the 48s and wouldn’t be displaced for the remainder of the morning session. Fernandez finished second and Niko Kari in third.
When the afternoon session began, Nannini hit the ground running and set the fastest time out of the 18 cars that hit the track. The afternoon session also saw the return of Jake Hughes, having missed the first three session of testing due to prior commitments.
The Hitech duo of Lawson and Max Fewtrell then went 1-2 in the timing sheets as the teams began to turn up the pace. Nannini responded with a faster time to go fastest with half an hour to go. Hughes then set the fastest time of a 1:47.200 to take the top spot.
Castrol Toyota Racing Series graduate Clement Novalak then set his fastest lap of a 1:46.884, which eclipsed Nannini’s time.
Lawson then responded with a time half a second faster than that of Novalak to once again ascend to the top of the time sheets. The red flag was then brought out after Kari stopped out on track. Once the session resumed, there was insufficient time for drivers to set another time – affirming Lawson as the fastest driver of the session. Completing the top five were Novalak, Peroni, Logan Sargeant and Dennis Hauger.
The final day of pre-season testing is scheduled for a 11pm NZT start later this evening.