ART Grand Prix’s Nirei Fukuzumi set the fastest time in both morning and afternoon sessions of the first day of post-season testing at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
The Japanese driver set times of 1m55.853s and 1m55.479s to lead the sessions by 0.555s and 0.233s ahead of fellow ART tester Jack Aitken.
In the morning session, Arjun Maini finished third after setting his first laps in a Trident car, finishing clear of ART’s George Russell, Trident’s Giuliano Alesi and Arden International’s Niko Kari.
DAMS’ Santino Ferrucci and Steijn Schothorst, Jenzer Motorsport’s Alessio Lorandi and Trident’s Ryan Tveter completed the top ten. Every driver taking part in the session who competed in the 2016 season finished in the top ten in the morning.
Kari set the most laps in the morning, lapping the circuit 33 times, four more than Jenzer’s Marcos Siebert.
There were two red flag periods in the first half of the day when Maini stopped on track and because of debris on track at Turn 7.
Fukuzumi kept his advantage in the afternoon despite Aitken setting a lap time closer to his best. Russell joined the two to make an ART trio at the top of the timesheets ahead of Maini.
Ferrucci moved up to fifth in the order ahead of Lorandi, while DAMS’ Raoul Hyman set a time just 0.774s slower than the fastest of the session for seventh. Alesi, Schothorst and Tveter again featured in the top ten.
Testing continues for another two days before the drivers and teams end their seasons on December 2.
