Home News Barnicoat leads Carlin 1-2 on first morning of Aragon F3.5V8 test

Barnicoat leads Carlin 1-2 on first morning of Aragon F3.5V8 test

by Peter Allen
Photo: Formula 3.5 V8

Photo: Formula 3.5 V8

Ben Barnicoat set an impressive pace on the first morning of the Formula 3.5 V8 test at Aragon, leading Dean Stoneman in a one-two for the Carlin team.

Barnicoat is one of 10 Formula Renault 2.0 drivers testing on Wednesday at the invite of Renault Sport, the outgoing backers of the series.

The 18-year-old Briton, in only his second day driving the car having done the same rookie test 12 months ago, led large parts of the session and returned to the top with over half an hour remaining.

He was displaced by fellow FR2.0 racer Matevos Isaakyan inside the final 15 minutes but soon responded with two faster laps, ending up with a 1m41.822s.

Stoneman, testing for the team with which he made his GP2 debut last month, moved up into second before the end, exactly a tenth slower than Barnicoat, who is believed to be close to securing a Prema Formula 3 seat for 2016.

Ex-FR2.0 team-mates Kevin Jorg and Louis Deletraz claimed third and fourth before the end for Lotus and Fortec respectively, with Pons’ Isaakyan pushed down to fifth – with FR2.0 invitees taking four of the top five places.

Red Bull Junior Callum Ilott took sixth on his debut at an F3.5 test, just ahead of fellow Strakka driver Jake Hughes.

Series runner-up Matthieu Vaxiviere was eighth for Spirit of Race ahead of Yu Kanamaru (Pons) and Egor Orudzhev (Arden).

Anthoine Hubert, Thiago Vivacqua and Asian FR2.0 champion Dan Wells were next up in their maiden 3.5 tests, with Eurocup champion Jack Aitken 15th for Arden and Ukyo Sasahara 17th for Comtec.

Morning session times
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Ben Barnicoat Carlin 1:41.822 35
2 Dean Stoneman Carlin 1:41.922 0.100 30
3 Kevin Jorg Lotus 1:42.055 0.233 31
4 Louis Deletraz Fortec Motorsports 1:42.071 0.249 50
5 Matevos Isaakyan Pons Racing 1:42.101 0.279 38
6 Callum Ilott Strakka Racing 1:42.247 0.425 45
7 Jake Hughes Strakka Racing 1:42.393 0.571 41
8 Matthieu Vaxiviere Spirit of Race 1:42.532 0.710 33
9 Yu Kanamaru Pons Racing 1:42.608 0.786 40
10 Egor Orudzhev Arden Motorsport 1:42.814 0.992 39
11 Anthoine Hubert Tech 1 Racing 1:42.866 1.044 46
12 Thiago Vivacqua AVF 1:43.013 1.191 33
13 Dan Wells Spirit of Race 1:43.051 1.229 37
14 Alfonso Celis AVF 1:43.183 1.361 29
15 Jack Aitken Arden Motorsport 1:43.312 1.490 35
16 Aurelien Panis Tech 1 Racing 1:43.413 1.591 40
17 Ukyo Sasahara Comtec Racing 1:43.449 1.627 38
18 Alex Bosak Fortec Motorsports 1:43.488 1.666 38
19 Vitor Baptista Lotus 1:44.534 2.712 22