Copyright GP2 Media Service
Status Grand Prix’s Richie Stanaway set the fastest laptime of the final day of pre-season testing in Abu Dhabi.
The final sessions of the GP2 pre-season test took place under windy conditions today. Alexander Rossi was the first out on track, followed by his Racing Engineering team mate Jordan King. ART’s Stoffel Vandoorne set the early pace. After 40 minutes a red flag interrupted the session after Artem Markelov stopped on track in turn 7.
When the session went live again, drivers returned to the track on supersoft tyres to do fast laps. Raffaele Marciello was the first man to break the 1:50 minute barrier, and Mitch Evans followed suit, beating the Italian and dipping under 1:49 minutes. Vandoorne took the top spot back with a laptime of 1:48.921 just before another red flag brought the session to a halt as Evans stopped on track at Turn 9.
After the restart, Marciello improved and beat Vandoorne’s laptime before Evans, having returned to the track after his stop, bettered Marciello’s time shortly afterwards.
Halfway through the session it was Richie Stanaway’s time to shine. The New Zealander went four tenths of a second quicker than his compatriot Evans, and would remain in the top spot until the end of the session with the fastest laptime of the day. Pierre Gasly attempted to beat Stanaway in the last minutes of the morning session, but his effort brought the Frenchman only up to P2 ahead of Evans, Marciello, and Rossi.
In the afternoon session, Rio Haryanto was the pace-setter during the first half until Alex Lynn beat the Indonesian’s time by one tenth of a second.
The first red flag of the afternoon was caused by Alexander Rossi: The American went off and hit the barriers. The session was resumed with one hour left to run, but shortly afterwards the action was interrupted again as Zoel Amberg stopped on track in turn 14.
After the restart it was Sergey Sirotkin who took the top spot on the timing sheet with a laptime of 1:49.158, before a third red flag brought the action to a halt as his compatriot Markelov stopped on the start/finish-straight.
The session was restarted with only ten minutes left on the clock, and drivers went out on supersofts again for fast laps. Arthur Pic was able to claim P2 before Sirotkin stopped on track in turn 19 and a double yellow flag prevented further efforts. The Russian remained on top of the time sheets until the chequered flag ahead of Pic, Lynn, Nathanael Berthon, and Norman Nato.
