This afternoon’s session marks the end of the 2016 GP2 pre-season test, the first opportunity the drivers have had to shake off the winter cobwebs until the end of the month, where the second test will commence at Jerez. Newcomers PREMA Powerteam have proved that speed and results are not restricted to just their FIA F3 campaign, with their French ace Pierre Gasly topping the timesheets on 2 of the 3 days.

The day dawned bright but cold, with Status GP’s van Buuren the first to take to the track. Nicholas Latifi was the first driver under the 1:30 barrier for DAMS early on in the session, the Canadian having switched from the now defunct World Series by Renault 3.5 for the 2016 season. His more experienced GP2 teammate Lynn was the first to break under 1:28 with a time of 1:27:841 (ultimately his fastest time of the day), the benchmark for the top few drivers over the last couple of days.

A brief red flag period was summoned by Sirotkin venturing into the gravel bed halfway through the morning session, but on the restart the times really began to tumble. Gasly went under his personal best from yesterday with a 1:27.386 on the soft Pirelli tyres. Also improving on their times were Nato – who completed his maiden season in the series last year – and 2015 F3 runner-up Antonio Giovinazzi, who finished the morning session and overall standings 2nd and 3rd respectively before the PREMA driver came to a stop at turn 4.

The afternoon pace was lacking compared to the morning. A red flag an hour in caused by contact between Marciello and Binder was the first of two small interruptions, allowing the drivers and teams to successfully complete their long runs, interspersed with pit stop practices. Early pacesetter Pic was denied topping the timesheets by Artem Markelov initially, before his Rapax teammate Malja put the hammer down to clock a 1:28.719 – the fastest time of the afternoon.

The cars will take to the track once more on March 29th at Jerez for the second of the pre-season tests. Will Gasly and PREMA still be a dominant force, or will a new challenger rise to the top?

Morning results

Driver Team Laptime Laps
1. Pierre Gasly PREMA Racing 1:27.386 41
2. Norman Nato Racing Engineering 1:27.630 29
3. Antonio Giovinazzi PREMA Racing 1:27.755 33
4. Alex Lynn DAMS 1:27.841 22
5. Luca Ghiotto Trident 1:27.884 39
6. Danïel de Jong MP Motorsport 1:27.977 25
7. Mitch Evans Jagonya Ayam Campos Racing 1:28.022 30
8. Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1:28.067 26
9. Jordan King Racing Engineering 1:28.122 32
10. Sergey Sirotkin ART Grand Prix 1:28.122 20
11. Arthur Pic Rapax 1:28.150 34
12. Rene Binder Carlin 1:28.240 19
13. Raffaele Marciello RUSSIAN TIME 1:28.296 35
14. Gustav Malja Carlin 1:28.335 35
15. Oliver Rowland MP Motorsport 1:28.421 33
16. Sergio Canamasas Status Grand Prix 1:28.491 35
17. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:28.599 12
18. Marvin Kirchhöfer Carlin 1:28.744 39
19. Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1:28.871 32
20. Jimmy Eriksson Arden International 1:29.433 32
21. Philo Paz Armand Trident 1:29.450 39
22. Nabil Jeffri Arden International 1:29.662 39
23. Sean Gelael Jagonya Ayam Campos Racing 1:29.755 39
24. Meindert van Buuren Status Grand Prix 1:30.007 29

 

Afternoon results

Driver Team Laptime Laps
1. Gustav Malja Rapax 1:28.719 40
2. Jimmy Eriksson Arden International 1:29.263 31
3. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:29.425 19
4. Oliver Rowland MP Motorsport 1:29.474 34
5. Sergio Canamasas Status Grand Prix 1:29.586 34
6. Arthur Pic Rapax 1:29.678 30
7. Meindert van Buuren Status Grand Prix 1:30.555 25
8. Nabil Jeffri Arden International 1:31.845 32
9. Alex Lynn DAMS 1:32.723 50
10. Rene Binder Carlin 1:32.779 45
11. Luca Ghiotto Trident 1:32.836 33
12. Pierre Gasly PREMA Racing 1:33.062 49
13. Danïel de Jong MP Motorsport 1:33.249 40
14. Marvin Kirchhöfer Carlin 1:33.317 40
15. Sergey Sirotkin ART Grand Prix 1:33.534 55
16. Mitch Evans Jagonya Ayam Campos Racing 1:33.596 43
17. Sean Gelael Jagonya Ayam Campos Racing 1:33.616 47
18. Antonio Giovinazzi PREMA Racing 1:33.669 48
19. Philo Paz Armand Trident 1:33.695 41
20. Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1:33.883 44
21. Norman Nato Racing Engineering 1:33.968 39
22. Jordan King Racing Engineering 1:34.247 51
23. Raffaele Marciello RUSSIAN TIME 1:34.296 19
24. Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1:34.331 44