On the second day of the GP2 post season test in Abu Dhabi it was Nicholas Latifi (DAMS) who topped the time sheet with a laptime of 1:47.860. The Canadian beat yesterday’s top time and finished the day ahead of Norman Nato (ART Grand Prix) and Sergey Sirotkin (Rapax).
The first hour of the session saw many changes at the top: Richie Stanaway (Carlin) set the pace in the early stage of the morning session before Pierre Gasly (RUSSIAN TIME) got the upper hand and claimed the top spot. However, shortly afterwards the Frenchman was beaten by Latifi, who in turn had his laptime soon bettered by André Negrao (Rapax).
At the 40 minute mark, the session was interrupted by a short red flag due to debris on track, and after the restart Latifi reclaimed the lead. There was another change at the top just before another red flag period as Mitch Evans stopped on track: Artem Markelov (RUSSIAN TIME) set the fastest lap of the morning session, a time of 1:49.008.
A third red flag halted the proceedings as Gasly stopped on track, and afterwards no one was able to beat Markelov until the end of the session. The Russian remained on top of the time sheet ahead of Latifi, Negrao, Stanaway, Gasly, Nick Yelloly (MP Motorsport), Nato, Alex Fontana (Status Grand Prix), Sirotkin, and Dean Stoneman (Carlin).
In the evening session, Alex Lynn (DAMS) and Markelov led the way in the beginning of the session. Yelloly had a brief stint at the top of the time sheet before Markelov bettered the Brit’s laptime. Another red flag interrupted the session after the first half hour, this time for a longer period as the Tech Pro barriers needed repairs after a crash of Felix Rosenqvist.
When the session was restarted with one hour and 20 minutes left to run, the Rapax drivers wasted little time: Sirotkin dashed up to the top of the time sheets, followed by Nato claiming provisional second place. In the dying minutes of the session however, Latifi made a last effort to set the fastest laptime of the day, a 1:47.860, while Nato jumped his team mate for the day and set the second-fastest time. Behind the leading trio, Lynn was fourth-fastest ahead of Yelloly, Negrao, Gasly, Markelov, Evans, and Jordan King (Racing Engineering).
The final day of GP2 post season testing will begin at 12:00, with the morning session lasting until 14:30, and the evening session will be held from 18:00 to 20:30 (local time).
