F2 News: Duerksen sweeps day 2 of Yas Marina post-season test

Joshua Duerksen was in fine form on day two of the Yas Marina post-season test as the AIX Racing driver topped the timesheets in both the morning and afternoon sessions.

The Paraguayan led the way in the opening three hours with a 1:35.583, the fastest time of the day, before returning later on in the second session to post a 1:36.697 to complete a clean sweep.

MORNING

It was a busy start to day two as most of the drivers filed out of the pit lane with PREMA Racing’s Sebastián Montoya the early pacesetter on a 1:38.239, putting him 0.089s clear of Jak Crawford.

With 13 minutes gone there was an early Red Flag after Van Amersfoort Racing’s John Bennett spun into a stoppage at Turn 2.

Once the action resumed, Joshua Duerksen took over top spot for AIX Racing, completing a 1:37.500, only for PREMA’s Gabriele Minì to beat that time by 0.139s.

But then came the MP Motorsport pair as first Richard Verschoor went fastest before Oliver Goethe took P1 from his teammate by 0.014s, thanks to a 1:37.243.

With 40 minutes of running gone, AIX strapped on the Supersoft tyres onto Duerksen’s car, and he went fastest on a 1:35.583, with Trident’s Max Esterson 1.4s off his pace in second.

PREMA were next to put on the softer compound with Minì and Montoya going to P2 and P3 respectively, 0.696s and 0.937s off Duerksen’s leading time.

Esterson then moved back up to P2 on his Supersoft run, finding himself over three-tenths off top spot, while Josep María Martí rounded out the top three for Campos Racing.

However, there was another halt to the session with Bennett having stopped again on track, this time at Turn 3 causing the marshals to wave the Red Flag once more.

Back to green flag conditions there were plenty of changes behind Duerksen, but no one could get to within three-tenths of his time, with Richard Verschoor going closest for MP Motorsport in P2, 0.311s behind.

There were no further improvements for the rest of the morning, leaving Duerksen with the fastest time, while Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli 50 laps were the most of any driver.

AFTERNOON

The action continued after the break with Arvid Lindblad leading a Campos Racing one-two, the Briton’s 1:38.664 putting him 1.3s clear of teammate Martí.

They were then usurped by the Trident pair as Esterson rocketed to the top on a 1:36.705, giving him a half a second lead ahead of Sami Meguetounif.

However, on his next push lap, Meguetounif was able to go 0.005s off the American, as they separated themselves from the rest of the field.

Another set of teammates in Minì and Montoya then moved themselves to third and fourth, respectively, the PREMA pair finding themselves nearly one second off Esterson’s pace.

The order remained the same for much of the afternoon as the teams focused on long run pace. However, as we entered into the final five minutes of the day, Duerksen completed a 1:36.533 to make it a clean sweep of sessions.

Richard Verschoor and Ritomo Miyata were the busiest of the day ending their afternoon with 67 laps each.

That brings an end to day two of running but day three is set to get underway at 09:00 local time around the Yas Marina Circuit.

2024 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP – YAS MARINA POST-SEASON TEST, DAY 2, MORNING SESSION

2024 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP – YAS MARINA POST-SEASON TEST, DAY 2, AFTERNOON SESSION