Indonesian driver sets fastest laptime at Bahrain International Circuit
Press Release
The second day of testing at Bahrain International Circuit opened this morning under overcast skies and in cooler temperatures. Jolyon Palmer, Takuya Izawa and Stoffel Vandoorne were quick to take to the track, but it was Conor Daly who topped the timesheets on soft Pirelli tyres early into the session. Fellow countryman Alexander Rossi became the first man to dip under 1m41s today, but Daly went even quicker and lapped the track in 1:40.233. It was then Mitch Evans who found some extra pace to break under the 1m40s barrier. His laptime was bettered by Palmer by two hundredths, the Briton clocking in a time of 1:39.854.
A few drops of rain fell over the track, but most of the field opted to put on the softer compounds and it was Rio Haryanto’s time to shine: the Indonesian driver managed to set a blazing laptime of 1:39.129 – three tenths quicker than last year’s pole position. Haryanto’s teammate Rossi went out on track for another attempt at topping the timesheet but ended a hairsbreadth away from the Indonesian. In the final stages, Julian Leal edged Raffaele Marciello out of third. Behind the Italian, Palmer, Evans, Vandoorne, Stéphane Richelmi, Rene Binder and Kimiya Sato rounded out the top ten.
After the lunch break, the temperatures rose and Daniiel De Jong was the early pace setter. He remained top for most of the session as drivers focused on race simulations and pitstop practices. With one hour left on the clock, Daniel Abt went quickest on Hard compounds, but De Jong on Soft Pirelli tyres soon improved on the German’s laptime and regained control of the timesheet.
In the closing stages, laptimes started to tumble down and the fight for the top spot saw Jon Lancaster, Vittorio Ghirelli and Johnny Cecotto successively hit the front, but at the chequered flag, De Jong reclaimed P1 with a 1:40.508 – two tenths quicker than Cecotto (also on Soft compounds). Leal was able to find some extra pace on Hard Pirelli tyres to move up to third in the dying minutes ahead of Ghirelli, Lancaster, Simon Trummer, Facu Regalia, Abt, Felipe Nasr and Arthur Pic.
Morning results
|
Driver |
Team |
Laptime |
Laps |
|
|
1. |
Rio Haryanto |
EQ8 Caterham Racing |
1:39.129 |
32 |
|
2. |
Alexander Rossi |
EQ8 Caterham Racing |
1:39.173 |
31 |
|
3. |
Julian Leal |
Carlin |
1:39.538 |
22 |
|
4. |
Raffaele Marciello |
Racing Engineering |
1:39.704 |
33 |
|
5. |
Jolyon Palmer |
DAMS |
1:39.854 |
31 |
|
6. |
Mitch Evans |
RT RUSSIA TIME |
1:39.870 |
15 |
|
7. |
Stoffel Vandoorne |
ART Grand Prix |
1:39.913 |
32 |
|
8. |
Stephane Richelmi |
DAMS |
1:40.045 |
29 |
|
9. |
Rene Binder |
Arden International |
1:40.126 |
15 |
|
10. |
Kimiya Sato |
Campos Racing |
1:40.154 |
25 |
|
11. |
Nathanael Berthon |
Venezuela GP Lazarus |
1:40.190 |
18 |
|
12. |
Artem Markelov |
RT RUSSIAN TIME |
1:40.191 |
18 |
|
13. |
Conor Daly |
Venezuela GP Lazarus |
1:40.233 |
10 |
|
14. |
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs |
Rapax |
1:40.250 |
19 |
|
15. |
Andre Negrao |
Arden International |
1:40.314 |
19 |
|
16. |
Takuya Izawa |
ART Grand Prix |
1:40.678 |
30 |
|
17. |
Felipe Nasr |
Carlin |
1:40.786 |
26 |
|
18. |
Arthur Pic |
Campos Racing |
1:40.840 |
24 |
|
19. |
Johnny Cecotto |
Trident |
1:40.842 |
15 |
|
20. |
Vittorio Ghirelli |
Trident |
1:40.991 |
25 |
|
21. |
Daniiel de Jong |
MP Motorsport |
1:41.041 |
10 |
|
22. |
Stefano Coletti |
Racing Engineering |
1:41.106 |
22 |
|
23. |
Jon Lancaster |
MP Motorsport |
1:41.166 |
40 |
|
24. |
Simon Trummer |
Rapax |
1:41.586 |
29 |
|
25. |
Facu Regalia |
Hilmer Motorsport |
1:43.748 |
39 |
|
26. |
Daniel Abt |
Hilmer Motorsport |
1:43.796 |
30 |
Afternoon results
|
Driver |
Team |
Laptime |
Laps |
|
|
1. |
Daniiel de Jong |
MP Motorsport |
1:40.508 |
19 |
|
2. |
Johnny Cecotto |
Trident |
1:40.779 |
19 |
|
3. |
Julian Leal |
Carlin |
1:40.882 |
21 |
|
4. |
Vittorio Ghirelli |
Trident |
1:41.235 |
14 |
|
5. |
Jon Lancaster |
MP Motorsport |
1:41.277 |
17 |
|
6. |
Simon Trummer |
Rapax |
1:41.436 |
29 |
|
7. |
Facu Regalia |
Hilmer Motorsport |
1:41.476 |
25 |
|
8. |
Daniel Abt |
Hilmer Motorsport |
1:41.746 |
10 |
|
9. |
Felipe Nasr |
Carlin |
1:41.998 |
24 |
|
10. |
Arthur Pic |
Campos Racing |
1:42.354 |
38 |
|
11. |
Rene Binder |
Arden International |
1:42.393 |
31 |
|
12. |
André Negrao |
Ardent International |
1:43.007 |
29 |
|
13. |
Mitch Evans |
RT RUSSIAN TIME |
1:43.839 |
27 |
|
14. |
Artem Markelov |
RT RUSSIAN TIME |
1:43.877 |
26 |
|
15. |
Jolyon Palmer |
DAMS |
1:43.910 |
32 |
|
16. |
Nathanaël Berthon |
Venezuela GP Lazarus |
1:43.179 |
32 |
|
17. |
Conor Daly |
Venezuela GP Lazarus |
1:44.276 |
31 |
|
18. |
Stéphane Richelmi |
DAMS |
1:44.381 |
24 |
|
19. |
Stoffel Vandoorne |
ART Grand Prix |
1:44.458 |
46 |
|
20. |
Raffaele Marciello |
Racing Engineering |
1:44.632 |
17 |
|
21. |
Stefano Coletti |
Racing Engineering |
1:44.818 |
26 |
|
22. |
Takuya Izawa |
ART Grand Prix |
1:44.895 |
46 |
|
23. |
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs |
Rapax |
1:45.151 |
38 |
|
24. |
Alexander Rossi |
EQ8 Caterham Racing |
1:45.240 |
33 |
|
25. |
Kimiya Sato |
Campos Racing |
1:45.348 |
33 |
|
26. |
Rio Haryanto |
EQ8 Caterham Racing |
1:45.443 |
35 |
The final day of pre-season testing will start again at 9am local time.
