Japanese heads afternoon session on first day of test.

Nobuharu Matsushita claimed the first day honours after topping this afternoon’s FIA Formula 2 Championship pre-season test in Barcelona, stopping the clock halfway through the session with   a time of 1:29.061 to lead ART Grand Prix teammate Alexander Albon and Norman Nato, who both finished on the same time, by just under a tenth and top this morning’s best time set by Johnny Cecotto by almost two tenths.

The sun came out for this afternoon’s 3 hour session, with Sean Gelael the first driver to set a competitive time as the teams finished their installation work a third of the way through the session. Matsushita grabbed the top spot at the 1hr20 mark and was never displaced, despite some strong work from Albon, Gustav Malja, Charles Leclerc, Cecotto and finally Nato as the clock wound down to zero.

The Japanese driver had time to practice pitstops with his team in the closing minutes of the session as his rivals tried in vain to top his times, with most conceding defeat and joining him in the pits over the closing minutes. The sunny conditions contrasted with this morning’s gloomier weather, when the test opened to overcast but dry conditions as the teams worked on their set ups before heading out on track.

Jordan King and Luca Ghiotto were the early targets with Oliver Rowland looking like he would claim the honours late in the session, before a last lap by Cecotto grabbed the morning’s top spot with a time of 1:29.239, ahead of Rowland and Matsushita. The Japanese driver will be quietly happy with his first day’s work, but his rivals will be looking to rain on his parade when action restarts tomorrow morning.

Day 1 Morning results

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

1.

Johnny Cecotto

Rapax

1:29.239

11

2.

Oliver Rowland

DAMS

1:29.355

13

3.

Nobuharu Matsushita

ART Grand Prix

1:29.552

18

4.

Nyck De Vries

Rapax

1:29.625

11

5.

Norman Nato

Pertamina Arden

1:29.674

10

6.

Luca Ghiotto

RUSSIAN TIME

1:29.727

18

7.

Nicholas Latifi

DAMS

1:29.743

13

8.

Charles Leclerc

PREMA Racing

1:29.928

21

9.

Alexander Albon

ART Grand Prix

1:30.018

18

10.

Sean Gelael

Pertamina Arden

1:30.162

10

11.

Artem Markelov

RUSSIAN TIME

1:30.188

12

12.

Gustav Malja

Racing Engineering

1:30.365

16

13.

Antonio Fuoco

PREMA Racing

1:30.433

24

14.

Jordan King

MP Motorsport

1:30.672

17

15.

Sergio Canamasas

Trident

1:30.901

17

16.

Ralph Boschung

Campos Racing

1:30.992

16

17.

Sergio Sette Camara

MP Motorsport

1:31.072

10

18.

Nabil Jeffri

Trident

1:31.230

13

19.

Roberto Merhi

Campos Racing

1:31.470

14

20.

Louis Delétraz

Racing Engineering

1:31.591

17

Day 1 Afternoon results

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

1.

Nobuharu Matsushita

ART Grand Prix

1:29.061

43

2.

Alexander Albon

ART Grand Prix

1:29.157

42

3.

Norman Nato

Pertamina Arden

1:29.157

28

4.

Gustav Malja

Racing Engineering

1:29.230

29

5.

Johnny Cecotto

Rapax

1:29.356

27

6.

Louis Delétraz

Racing Engineering

1:29.699

31

7.

Oliver Rowland

DAMS

1:29.725

24

8.

Artem Markelov

RUSSIAN TIME

1:29.750

27

9.

Charles Leclerc

PREMA Racing

1:29.756

30

10.

Luca Ghiotto

RUSSIAN TIME

1:29.976

28

11.

Nicholas Latifi

DAMS

1:30.113

26

12.

Sean Gelael

Pertamina Arden

1:30.160

32

13.

Sergio Sette Camara

MP Motorsport

1:30.278

26

14.

Sergio Canamasas

Trident

1:30.297

20

15.

Jordan King

MP Motorsport

1:30.330

22

16.

Ralph Boschung

Campos Racing

1:30.470

27

17.

Nyck De Vries

Rapax

1:30.475

34

18.

Antonio Fuoco

PREMA Racing

1:30.671

21

19.

Roberto Merhi

Campos Racing

1:31.697

17

20.

Nabil Jeffri

Trident

1:32.113

22

FIA Formula 2 Press Release