PRACTICE 2: Pulling leads the way in second Miami Practice

Abbi Pulling kept herself top of the timing sheets in Free Practice 2, edging out Doriane Pin and Tommy Hilfiger driver Nerea Martí around the Miami International Autodrome.

The field picked up where they left off for the second session of the day. After their initial explorations in Free Practice 1, it was now about testing the limits in the warmer conditions before Qualifying.

McLaren’s Bianca Bustamante was quick to set the early benchmark at 2:00.655, lowering it by a further tenth and a half a few laps later. Having fell foul to track limits on two of her earlier attempts, FP1 pace-setter Pin found her way to the spot momentarily, until Pulling posted a 2:00.315 to go ahead of the Mercedes driver by 0.043s.

After a short interlude in the pits to debrief and tweak their setups, the 16 drivers knuckled down for the second phase of Practice. Pulling immediately extended her advantage, with her sub 2-minute lap putting her seven tenths clear.

A flurry of late improvements inside the final 10 minutes brought plenty of changes to the order, but Pulling’s grip on P1 remained unshakable. Showing no signs of slowing and with the advantage of previous experience at the track, the Alpine driver steadily brought the time to beat down to a 1:59.237.

READ MORE: Practice 1: Pin hits the ground running in Miami

Pin’s attempts to wrestle the fastest lap away from the Briton looked promising, going purple in Sector 1. However, a snap of oversteer through Turn 14 derailed her efforts and she had to settle for second, two tenths down on Pulling.

Campos Racing’s pace looked strong as Martí secured third, just under four tenths back, ahead of Haas’ Chloe Chambers. Aurelia Nobels’ last-gasp effort promoted her two places to P5, with Maya Weug six thousandths behind in sixth.

Bustamante put her #16 car into seventh followed by the MP Motorsport trio of Amma Al Qubaisi, Emely De Heus and Hamda Al Qubaisi, who rounded out the top 10 for Red Bull Racing.

The field will have a chance to sleep on what they’ve learnt across both Practices before heading into Qualifying. The 30-minute session is scheduled for 10:25 local time on Saturday.