F3 Jerez Testing: Macedo heads VAR one-two on Day 2

Francisco Macedo recovered from an earlier stoppage to lead the second day of Formula 3 post-season testing at Jerez, setting a 1:29.766 as Van Amersfoort Racing secured the top two positions.

Enzo Deligny finished second ahead of Rodin Motorsport pair Pedro Clerot and Kiern Seewooruthun, bringing a competitive three-hour session to a close.

After Kean Nakamura-Berta topped the opening day, Wednesday morning produced another changing order as drivers explored their single-lap potential.

Macedo turns his morning around

Macedo’s session initially suffered a setback when he stopped at Turn 8, triggering a red flag. His subsequent recovery delivered the morning’s defining performance, displacing teammate Deligny from first place.

Deligny had earlier broken through the 1m30s barrier with a 1:29.935, before Clerot and Seewooruthun moved into contention. Macedo’s eventual benchmark restored VAR’s advantage and sealed its one-two.

Mattia Colnaghi completed the top five, having also enjoyed a spell at the head of the timesheets.

A busy battle for the fastest lap

Cold early conditions encouraged some teams to delay their running while others helped clean the circuit. Once activity gathered momentum, the benchmark fell repeatedly.

Clerot, Ernesto Rivera, Taito Kato, Dion Gowda and Keanu Al Azhari all featured at the top during the morning’s progression. Niccolò Maccagnani then put TRIDENT first with a 1:30.302, before Colnaghi lowered the target to 1:30.037.

The field was closely matched during that sequence: at one stage, just 0.332 seconds covered the top ten, with 23 drivers separated by less than a second.

Red flags interrupt the programme

Alessandro Giusti’s pitlane problem caused an early interruption and ultimately cost him the entire morning.

Alexander Abkhazava subsequently reached the gravel at Turn 3, while Maciej Gladysz brought out another red flag after going off at Turn 5 late in the session. Running resumed before the chequered flag.

Behind the leading five, Al Azhari, Kato, Olivieri, Alex Powell and James Egozi completed the morning’s top ten.

Testing positions remain a snapshot of differing programmes, but Macedo’s recovery and VAR’s collective pace provided the clearest headline before lunch. The post-season testing schedule continues in Barcelona on October 26–27.