Nobuharu Matsushita set the fastest laptime of the first day of GP2 Series post season testing in Abu Dhabi. The ART Grand Prix driver was fastest in both the morning and the evening session. Nicholas Latifi (DAMS) and Pierre Gasly (PREMA) set the second- and third-fastest times of the day.
The morning session began on medium Pirelli tyres, and Matsushita set the fastest laptime, 1:49.180, after the first half-hour of the day. Oliver Rowland (ART Grand Prix) remained in second place, three tenths of a second slower than his team mate. After one hour, Alex Lynn (DAMS) lapped the Yas Marina Circuit just over a tenth of a second slower than Matsushita, and Norman Nato (Arden International) eventually demoted Rowland to P4.
The session was red-flagged for a short period due to debris on track after Sean Gelael (Campos Racing) had made contact with the barriers at Turn 19. Afterwards it remained a calm and trouble-free session, with no changes at the top. Matushita remained fastest ahead of Lynn, Nato, and Rowland. Behind the Brit, Pierre Gasly (PREMA), Nicholas Latifi (DAMS), Tio Ellinas (RUSSIAN TIME), André Negrao (Rapax), Richie Stanaway (Carlin), and Nick Yelloly (MP Motorsport) finished in the top ten.
The second session of the day took place under neon lights. Jordan King (Racing Engineering) had the upper hand in the early stage of the session, but soon Matsushita reclaimed the top spot for himself with a laptime of 1:48.909. Once again Rowland lost the ART Grand Prix duel and had to settle for P2 within tenths of his Japanese team mate.
Stanaway then took the top spot from Matsushita, beating the ART driver by one tenth. However, soon afterwards Latifi beat the Kiwi and held the fastest laptime. Pierre Gasly came within striking distance of Latifi but had to settle for provisional second place a few hundredths of a second off the DAMS driver’s time. Nevertheless, in the end it was Matsushita who would set the fastest time of the day: With fifteen minutes on the clock, the Japanese pushed and set a laptime of 1:47.903, half a second faster than Latifi. Pierre Gasly remained in third place, ahead of Oliver Rowland, Artem Markelov (RUSSIAN TIME), Nick Yelloly, Norman Nato, Richie Stanaway, Dean Stoneman (Carlin) and André Negrao.
Testing will resume tomorrow with two sessions scheduled from 12:00 to 14:30 and 18:00 to 20:30 local time.
