Van Hoepen sets the Barcelona benchmark
Laurens van Hoepen put TRIDENT at the head of the order in Free Practice at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, delivering a sharp 1:26.776 to narrowly deny DAMS Lucas Oil driver Roman Bilinski.
In a session that took time to ignite, van Hoepen’s lap proved decisive. The field had already accumulated significant data around the Spanish venue, and that was reflected in a quiet opening phase before Nikola Tsolov established the first serious reference with a 1:27.136.
That benchmark quickly came under pressure. Alexander Dunne, Sebastián Montoya, Kush Maini, Martinius Stenshorne and Nico Varrone all moved within a tenth of Tsolov’s time, signalling how compressed the early pace picture had become. For more on the wider Barcelona-Catalunya weekend context, see our 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix guide.
Bilinski and Dunne keep the pressure on
Van Hoepen then found the step others had been chasing, becoming the first driver to dip beneath the 1:27 mark with his 1:26.776. It was not a comfortable margin, however. Dunne improved on his following lap to move within 0.070s of the top time, before Bilinski edged ahead of the Rodin Motorsport driver to take second, just 0.051s adrift of van Hoepen.
That left the leading trio separated by less than a tenth, underlining the fine margins heading into the competitive part of the day. Dunne ultimately ended the session third, narrowly short of matching the pace at the front but firmly inside the leading group.
Red flag halts late improvements
The final phase was disrupted when the red flags were shown with 12 minutes remaining. Noel León spun and left his Campos beached in the gravel, bringing the session to a halt while the car was cleared.
Running resumed with only three minutes left on the clock, but the interruption effectively froze the order. With no further improvements, van Hoepen remained on top ahead of Bilinski and Dunne.
Rafael Villagómez finished fourth, with Stenshorne fifth. Gabriele Minì took sixth ahead of Rafael Câmara, Colton Herta, Tsolov and Montoya, who completed the top 10.
Qualifying is scheduled to go green at 15:55 local time on Friday afternoon, with the practice times suggesting a tightly packed fight at the front.
Comments (0)
No comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts!
Loading posts...