GP2 Day 3: Jon Lancaster tops final day at Yas Marina
Jon Lancaster |
The final day of pre-season testing at Yas Marina Circuit was delayed by twenty minutes for gantry repairs at Turn 13. When the pitlane turned green, cars fed onto a sandy track in windy conditions. Stoffel Vandoorne set the early morning pace before a first short red flag period after Facu Regalia stopped at Turn 19.
At the restart, Jon Lancaster went top with a laptime eight tenths better than Vandoorne’s. It was then Stefano Coletti’s turn to claim top spot, but Johnny Cecotto became the first man to break the 1m50s barrier lapping the track four tenths quicker than the Monegasque driver. Lancaster improved again and headed to the top of the timesheet with a laptime of 1:49.653. A second red flag halted the proceedings thirty minutes before the end of the session after Rene Binder span and stopped at Turn 13. At the checkered flag, and behind Lancaster, Cecotto, Jolyon Palmer, Daniel Abt, Mitch Evans, Vandoorne, Coletti, Alexander Rossi, Raffaele Marciello and Julian Leal rounded out the top ten.
After a one hour break, the pitlane re-opened with Evans and Artem Markelov wasting no time to go back on track. Abt set the early pace. The conditions started degrading as a mini sandstorm arrived. With one hour left on the clock, Cecotto claimed the top spot. The proceedings were halted briefly after Coletti stopped at turn 8 just as some light raindrops made a surprising appearance. The pitlane went green and Evans found some extra pace to clock in a laptime of 1:51.415, but in the dying minutes of the session, Arthur Pic went four tenths quicker to finish the day on top ahead of Evans, Cecotto, Palmer, Abt, Richelmi, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, Lancaster, Simon Trummer and Conor Daly.
The GP2 paddock is now headed to Sakhir for the second and final pre-season testing which will take place next week on 19th, 20th and 21st of March at Bahrain International Circuit.
Morning Results
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
1. | Jon Lancaster | MP Motorsport | 1:49.653 | 26 |
2. | Johnny Cecotto | Trident | 1:49.880 | 24 |
3. | Jolyon Palmer | DAMS | 1:49.972 | 25 |
4. | Daniel Abt | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:50.090 | 29 |
5. | Mitch Evans | RT RUSSIAN TIME | 1:50.181 | 21 |
6. | Stoffel Vandoorne | ART Grand Prix | 1:50.278 | 32 |
7. | Stefano Coletti | Racing Engineering | 1:50.344 | 19 |
8. | Alexander Rossi | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 1:50.476 | 29 |
9. | Raffaele Marciello | Racing Engineering | 1:50.485 | 30 |
10. | Julian Leal | Carlin | 1:50.565 | 22 |
11. | Kimiya Sato | Campos Racing | 1:50.748 | 35 |
12. | Facu Regalia | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:50.778 | 28 |
13. | Felipe Nasr | Carlin | 1:50.830 | 23 |
14. | Rio Haryanto | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 1:50.976 | 38 |
15. | André Negrao | Arden International | 1:51.020 | 27 |
16. | Rene Binder | Arden International | 1:51.184 | 33 |
17. | Daniiel De Jong | MP Motorsport | 1:51.198 | 21 |
18. | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | Rapax | 1:51.401 | 27 |
19. | Nathanael Berthon | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:51.510 | 15 |
20. | Axcil Jefferies | Trident | 1:51.556 | 18 |
21. | Stéphane Richelmi | DAMS | 1:51.674 | 33 |
22. | Artem Markelov | RT RUSSIAN TIME | 1:51.736 | 30 |
23. | Arthur Pic | Campos Racing | 1:52.014 | 21 |
24. | Takuya Izawa | ART Grand Prix | 1:52.020 | 38 |
25. | Simon Trummer | Rapax | 1:52.329 | 30 |
26. | Conor Daly | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:52.825 | 7 |
Afternoon Results
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
1. | Arthur Pic | Campos Racing | 1:51.006 | 22 |
2. | Mitch Evans | RT RUSSIAN TIME | 1:51.415 | 28 |
3. | Johnny Cecotto | Trident | 1:51.432 | 24 |
4. | Jolyon Palmer | DAMS | 1:51.563 | 29 |
5. | Daniel Abt | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:51.786 | 22 |
6. | Stéphane Richelmi | DAMS | 1:51.843 | 22 |
7. | Conor Daly | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:51.994 | 16 |
8. | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | Rapax | 1:52.059 | 21 |
9. | Jon Lancaster | MP Motorsport | 1:52.293 | 19 |
10. | Simon Trummer | Rapax | 1:52.476 | 25 |
11. | Daniiel De Jong | MP Motorsport | 1:52.562 | 16 |
12. | Nathanael Berthon | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:52.647 | 16 |
13. | Facu Regalia | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:52.846 | 37 |
14. | Axcil Jefferies | Trident | 1:53.200 | 23 |
15. | André Negrao | Arden International | 1:53.941 | 31 |
16. | Artem Markelov | RT RUSSIAN TIME | 1:54.383 | 40 |
17. | Raffaele Marciello | Racing Engineering | 1:54.404 | 33 |
18. | Kimiya Sato | Campos Racing | 1:54.473 | 32 |
19. | Felipe Nasr | Carlin | 1:54.581 | 36 |
20. | Stoffel Vandoorne | ART Grand Prix | 1:54.608 | 42 |
21. | Rene Binder | Arden International | 1:54.754 | 26 |
22. | Julian Leal | Carlin | 1:54.883 | 35 |
23. | Alexander Rossi | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 1:54.968 | 45 |
24. | Stefano Coletti | Racing Engineering | 1:55.233 | 33 |
25. | Takuya Izawa | ART Grand Prix | 1:55.531 | 32 |
26. | Rio Haryanto | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 1:55.554 | 30 |