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