Gabriele Mini was the fastest driver in the only free practice session for the opening round of Formula 2, held at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. In the session held this Thursday night (5) Brasília time, the Italian from MP Motorsport recorded 1min29s137 on his best lap.
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Second place went to Noel León, a Campos Racing driver who finished 0s408 behind Mini. Current Formula 3 champion Rafael Câmara was third with Invicta, followed by Nikola Tsolov, fourth with Campos Racing. The top five group also included Dino Beganovic from DAMS.
Alexander Dunne, who had a heavy off during practice, was sixth with Rodin, followed by Martinius Stenshorne, his teammate. Ritomo Miyata from Hitech, Joshua Durksen from AIX Racing, and Kush Maini from ART Grand Prix rounded out the top 10. Emmo Fittipaldi, another Brazilian on the grid, set the 16th fastest time.
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The session featured two red flag periods. Twenty minutes into practice, Colton Herta hit the wall after losing control of his Hitech car at Turn 10 of the Australian circuit, causing the stoppage. With eight minutes remaining, it was Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak’s turn to crash with ART Grand Prix, an incident that ended the session.
The Formula 2 schedule continues in the early hours of this Friday, starting at 0h55, with qualifying. Both races will be held on Saturday, with the Sprint at 0h10 and the main race at 21h25.
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