Doohan tops first day of Valencia F3 post-season test

The 2021 vice-champion, who raced for teams' champion Trident last season - but joined the new team for Monday’s test - set a 1m22.402s as the quickest lap of the day.

Second quickest was Alpine junior Victor Martins, who finished his maiden Formula 3 season with MP Motorsport as the highest placed rookie, but joined ART Grand Prix on the first day at Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

He was followed by newcomer Zane Maloney in his first taste of F3 machinery, just 0.3s off the pace. The Barbadian driver finished third in the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship and winning the 2019 British F4 championship.

Roman Stanek, joining Trident from Hitech, was fourth quickest, followed by Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine winner Gregoire Saucy.

The test hosted a mix of new and returning talent in the paddock, while Dutch-based team Van Amersfoort Racing made its on-track debut in the third tier.

The team, who takes over HWA Racelab’s spot on the grid, competed in the now-defunct European F3 from 2012 until that championship’s merger with the GP3 Series at the end of 2018.

Arthur Leclerc returned to PREMA Racing, having finished his rookie campaign 10th in the standings. He was joined by Red Bull junior Jak Crawford, who drove for Hitech Grand Prix in 2021, and Italian F4 Champion Oliver Bearman.

Trident had run with a brand-new line-up, with Maloney alongside Jonny Edgar, joining the team from Carlin, and Stanek.

Van Amersfoort Racing had Doohan within its ranks for the first day of testing. Running alongside the four-time race winner is Rafael Villagomez, who raced for HWA Racelab this season and Reece Ushijima, who makes the step-up from the GB3 Championship.

Juan Manuel Correa returned to ART Grand Prix, alongside Martins and Saucy.

Hitech Grand Prix also ran an all-new line-up on Monday, with Frederick and Johnathan Hoggard, after his rookie campaign with Jenzer Motorsport. The pair are joined by Isack Hadjar, who makes the step-up from the Formula Regional European Championship.

Caio Collet and Tijmen van der Helm both remained with MP Motorsport alongside Franco Colapinto, moving up from the Dutch team’s Formula Regional European Championship outfit.

Hunter Yeany made the switch to Campos Racing after two rounds with Charouz Racing System in 2021, joined by David Vidales and Josep Maria Marti.

Ido Cohen returned to Carlin for Day 1. Lining up next him were Zak O’Sullivan, stepping up to test in F3 after winning the GB3 Championship with the British team, and Brad Benavides, who made the move from the British team’s Euroformula Open outfit.

Filip Ugran stuck with Jenzer Motorsport for the first day in Valencia, alongside young Brazilian Roberto Faria and Malaysian driver Nazim Azman, who make the step-up to F3 after competing in GB3 and Euroformula Open respectively.

F3 race winner Lorenzo Colombo ran with Charouz Racing System on Monday, joined by 2021 teammate László Tóth and Oliver Rasmussen, who raced with HWA Racelab in the most recent campaign.