Australian teenager Alex Peroni has continued his positive start to life in the FIA Formula 3 Championship after claiming three top five times during the new category’s second pre-season testing in Barcelona.
With 30 cars taking part in the four session event, the Campos Racing driver showed no signs of fatigue as he finished fifth in both sessions during the first day of testing.
In the first session of the weekend, Peroni completed 29 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya track and finished under four tenths of second behind leader Leonardo Pulcini from Italy.
In the afternoon, Peroni was the only driver from the first session to remain in the top five, as Brazilian Felipe Drugovich took out top honours, 0.706 seconds faster than the fifth placed Tasmanian.
Showers overnight saw the drivers take on a wet course on the second day of action as Peroni made it three consecutive top five finishes and his best result of the weekend. The 19-year-old ending the session in fourth place just two tenths of a second behind Pulcini – whose recorded time was the fastest of the weekend.
Remarkably, Peroni had been leading the session after 20 laps until his car stopped due to an engine problem and he was forced to sit out of the session’s remaining two hours.
Unfortunately he was unable to break into the top five in the final session, but was still able to make the top half of the group, his 12th place finish almost one second behind the leader in Lirim Zendeli from Germany.
Following the testing, Peroni was thrilled with the team’s progress and his own performance against some of the world’s best young drivers.
“Overall I’m pretty happy with the test. On Tuesday I had good pace which included top-five in both sessions.” Peroni said.
“On Wednesday morning I had the fastest lap after everyone had done their first run on new tyres, but unfortunately an engine issue stopped my car out on the circuit during my second new tyre run. I think I could have set a faster time, but I still ended up fourth overall, which was really positive.
“The Campos team did a great job to have my car fixed for the afternoon session. We all did race simulations, and my pace was good then too. I completed the long runs without tiring, so I was happy that I’ve improved physically. I was close to the pace when the track was wet as well.
“This test has been a good step up from the 2019 Championship’s first one at Paul Ricard last month. We’re looking to build on this at the last pre-season test, at Hungaroring next week.”
Another notable performer throughout the testing was 2017 CAMS PAYCE Australian Formula 4 runner-up Liam Lawson who enjoyed a second place during the opening session.
The FIA Formula 3 Championship’s final pre-season testing will take place at the Hungaroring in Hungary on 17-18 April ahead of May’s first round in Barcelona.