The GP2 series got back underway with the final testing session before the start of the 2016 season. Racing Engineering’s Norman Nato set the fastest time around the Circuito de Jerez in Spain. He set the quickest time of the day in the morning session with a time of 1:25.811.
Blue skies greeted the drivers as they hit the track but the cold temperatures soon brought the fog in. The grid had completed their installation laps when the red flag, that would last until half an hour before lunch, was brought out. The action picked up severely in the final thirty minutes of running as the driver stormed onto the track, desperate to get some mileage on the cars, led out by Alex Lynn.
Raffaele Marciello set the early pace with a 1:26.762s but Jordan King quickly dropped the Italian down the timesheet as the track improved. It was Nato and Gasly who optimized the improving track conditions, both managing to dip under the 1:26s in the final minutes of the morning session. But it was Nato who ended on top by 0.015s.
Alex Lynn did a good job, getting his DAMS car to fourth whilst Antonio Giovianzzi, F3 graduate, has started his GP2 campaign in the best way, rounding off the top five and beating experienced drivers like Mitch Evans and Sergey Sirotkin on the timing board.
The afternoon brought more blue skies but warmer track and air temperatures, meaning a full session of running was on the cards. Pierre Gasly took the top of the timing board in the afternoon session but with the track having slowed down it was not enough to beat Nato’s quickest time of the morning. Nato ended the afternoon session third behind Alex Lynn who had led most of the afternoon session. The session had one interference when Jimmy Erikson brought out the red flag. The Arden driver stopped the session and hour in after a trip through the gravel at turn one saw him clipping the barrier.
The session ran trouble-free for the rest of the day, most teams optimizing the track time with long runs and practice starts. Alex Lynn had looked to be on top of the pace through the afternoon session but ex-teammate Gasly took the top spot away from the Brit with one hour left on the clock. Giovinazzi continued his successful day ending fourth in the afternoon session. King was behind him with a 1:26.617 as 2015 GP3 runner-up Luca Ghiotto put himself sixth in his Trident, half a second off the pace.
The second day of pre-season testing starts tomorrow at 0800 GMT.
