Lloyd sweeps Day 2 to end Navarra in-season testing on top

Ella Lloyd proved to be the driver to beat on the second and final day of running at the Navarra in-season test. The McLaren driver earned the fastest time of the test, completing a 1:46.259 in the final minutes of the morning session to lead Maya Weug by a slender margin.

The 20-year-old was once again a firm fixture at the top of the timesheets throughout the afternoon, as Rodin Motorsport scored a 1-2 with Lloyd’s 1:46.424 putting her two tenths clear of Emma Felbermayr.

MORNING

Aurelia Nobels kicked off the day, setting the opening benchmark at 1:51.138 but the PUMA driver’s time was quickly beaten inside the opening 15 minutes. Lia Block, Nina Gademan and Weug all took turns in the top spot, with the Ferrari driver lowering her personal best from a 1:48.220 to a 1:47.518.

Then came the #28 car of Doriane Pin, who completed a lap of 1:46.977 to take P1 and the Mercedes driver found another tenth on her next attempt.

Times continued to tumble as Weug reasserted her place at the head of the order, cutting the time to beat down to a 1:46.550 across her next four attempts. Pin responded in turn, posting a 1:46.415. Lloyd was the next to rocket to the top of the timesheets on a 1:46.398, putting her 0.004s ahead of Weug and 0.017s quicker than Pin by the end of the first hour. The lead would changed hands once more an hour later, with Weug pipping Lloyd by 0.066s.

However, the McLaren driver wasn’t done yet. With nine minutes remaining, Lloyd found more pace, recording a 1:46.259 on her 45th lap of the morning.

Weug had to be content with second, only 0.073s behind, followed by Pin. Felbermayr and Chloe Chambers completed the top five ahead of Chloe Chong, Rafaela Ferreira, Alba Larsen, Tina Hausmann and Block, who was half a second off the pace in 10th.

AFTERNOON

Lloyd got back own to business straight away, with an early benchmark time of a 1:47.359. Within the first 20 minutes, the Welsh racer had already dropped into the 1:46s.

Larsen slotted into second two tenths back, but the gap would soon reopen into the second hour as Lloyd improved on her next set of push laps to go onto a 1:46.424. Felbermayr moved up into P2, putting the Kick Sauber driver 0.201s down on her Rodin Motorsport teammate and ahead of Pin.

READ MORE: F1 ACADEMY Rookie Test Explained

As Lloyd’s best effort went unchallenged, Weug momentarily moved inside the top three with 15 minutes remaining, before Pin narrowly demoted her by just 0.003s. The top four were all covered by 0.246s by the chequered flag, with Larsen almost a further three tenths back in P5.

Block’s final flying lap was enough to move the American up to seventh ahead of Chambers, Chong and Hausmann in P10.

That brings in-season testing to an end, but the running isn’t over yet as 18 drivers get behind the wheel for F1 ACADEMY’s first-ever Rookie Test, which gets underway at 09:00 local time (UTC+2) on Thursday.