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Lancaster nips Rossi to end GP2 pre-season testing on top

Jon Lancaster

The final day of pre-season test session opened today at Bahrain International Circuit once again in overcast conditions. Jon Lancaster seemed eager to put his new set of soft Pirelli tires to good use as he fed onto the track before the rest of the field, but it was rookie Stoffel Vandoorne – also on soft compounds – who set the early pace until the Briton from MP Motorsport was able to dip under 1m41s and claimed the top spot.

Also on a set of new softs, Daniel Abt posted a laptime of 1:39.931 and moved to the top of the standings before stopping at Turn 6 and causing a brief red flag period. At the restart, Vandoorne hit the front with a laptime one hundredth quicker than the German, but Lancaster found some extra pace to reclaim the head of the standings. Felipe Nasr also improved enough to move up to P2 but remained two tenths behind the Briton.

The remainder of the session was studious with drivers fine-tuning their race set-ups. Alexander Rossi was able to edge Nasr out of P2 during the final hour of the session. Behind the trio, Vandoorne, Abt, Jolyon Palmer, Julian Leal, rookie Raffaele Marciello, Mitch Evans and Rio Haryanto completed the top ten.

The afternoon session started after a one hour break in similar weather and temperature conditions. Palmer led the way early with a laptime of 1:41.522, his teammate Stéphane Richelmi in tow. The Briton sat at the top of the standings for the most part of the three-hour session as teams and drivers focused once again on race simulations and pitstop practices. Abt was able to lap the track in a 1:41.061 in the late stages and went top. Evans also found some extra pace to move to P2, two tenths slower than the German. In the dying minutes, many drivers improved on their personal best laptime, but at the checkered flag, Abt remained top ahead of Evans, Johnny Cecotto, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, Palmer, Simon Trummer, newcomer Facu Regalia, Richelmi, rookies Axcil Jefferies (who returned to Trident today in replacement of Vittorio Ghirelli) and Artem Markelov.

This concluded the 2014 GP2 Series pre-season testing. Teams and drivers will return to Sakhir in two weeks for the opening round of the tenth season of the category which will commence on April 4th at Bahrain International Circuit.

Morning results

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Jon Lancaster MP Motorsport 1:39.647 15
2. Alexander Rossi EQ8 Caterham Racing 1:39.693 16
3. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1:39.829 22
4. Stoffel Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 1:39.920 26
5. Daniel Abt Hilmer Motorsport 1:39.931 26
6. Jolyon Palmer DAMS 1:40.003 30
7. Julian Leal Carlin 1:40.031 15
8. Raffaele Marciello Racing Engineering 1:40.157 25
9. Mitch Evans RT RUSSIAN TIME 1:40.233 17
10. Rio Haryanto EQ8 Caterham Racing 1:40.377 21
11. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1:40.397 33
12. Facu Regalia Hilmer Motorsport 1:40.446 28
13. Simon Trummer Rapax 1:40.474 35
14. Nathanael Berthon Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:40.511 17
15. Stefano Coletti Racing Engineering 1:40.529 18
16. Rene Binder Arden International 1:40.550 18
17. Kimiya Sato Campos Racing 1:40.659 15
18. Daniiel De Jong MP Motorsport 1:40.668 17
19. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Rapax 1:40.743 27
20. André Negrao Arden International 1:40.956 25
21. Takuya Izawa ART Grand Prix 1:41.019 18
22. Arthur Pic Campos Racing 1:41.054 16
23. Artem Markelov RT RUSSIAN TIME 1:41.131 22
24. Johnny Cecotto Trident 1:41.722 20
25. Conor Daly Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:41.766 25
26. Axcil Jefferies Trident 1:43.522 20

Afternoon results

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Daniel Abt Hilmer Motorsport 1:41.061 20
2. Mitch Evans RT RUSSIAN TIME 1:41.272 36
3. Johnny Cecotto Trident 1:41.290 30
4. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Rapax 1:41.518 22
5. Jolyon Palmer DAMS 1:41.522 29
6. Simon Trummer Rapax 1:41.584 31
7. Facu Regalia Hilmer Motorsport 1:42.191 20
8. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1:42.662 37
9. Axcil Jefferies Trident 1:42.670 24
10. Artem Markelov RT RUSSIAN TIME 1:42.944 44
11. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1:43.498 39
12. Rene Binder Arden International 1:43.598 38
13. Conor Daly Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:43.639 40
14. Jon Lancaster MP Motorsport 1:43.650 40
15. Arthur Pic Campos Racing 1:43.651 39
16. Stoffel Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 1:44.549 48
17. Takuya Izawa ART Grand Prix 1:44.642 52
18. Julian Leal Carlin 1:45.300 51
19. Raffaele Marciello Racing Engineering 1:45.395 39
20. Kimiya Sato Campos Racing 1:45.395 42
21. Stefano Coletti Racing Engineering 1:45.516 32
22. Alexander Rossi EQ8 Caterham Racing 1:45.565 51
23. Nathanael Berthon Venezuela GP Lazarus 1:45.596 30
24. Daniiel De Jong MP Motorsport 1:46.018 34
25. Rio Haryanto EQ8 Caterham Racing 1:46.477 42
26. Andre Negrao Arden International 1:46.492 33