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Nato fastest as GP2 testing resumes

Published on 30 Mar 2016 14:00
2
By: Rob Veenstra

The GP2 Series field is back on track this week for the second 2016 pre-season test session at Circuito de Jerez, Spain. The paddock was greeted by blue skies but cold temperatures. When the pitlane turned green, it was Alex Lynn who fed onto the track first but he was closely followed by his teammate Nicholas Latifi and the rest of the pack.

After all cars had completed their installation lap, it was a quiet morning with the proceedings halted due to foggy conditions. When the action picked up again, RUSSIAN TIME’s Raffaele Marciello set the early pace in a laptime of 1:26.762.

With half an hour left on the clock, Racing Engineering’s Jordan King went quickest in a 1:26.201 ahead of Lynn and Mitch Evans. But Norman Nato found some extra pace to dip under 1m26s and sit pretty at the top of the timesheets.

At the chequered flag, Nato headed Pierre Gasly by 0.1s with King in P3. Lynn, Antonio Giovinazzi, Evans, Sergey Sirotkin, Arthur Pic, Oliver Rowland and Gustav Malja completed the top ten.

In the afternoon, the session started under blue skies and in warmer temperatures. Latifi ventured onto the track first but it was his teammate Lynn who set the early pace with a 1:26.442 - 0.1s quicker than Nato in P2. In the opening hour, Arden International’s Jimmy Eriksson caused a red flag after he clipped the barrier at Turn one.

The rest of the session was trouble-free and studious with most drivers completing long runs and practice starts. With one hour left on the clock, Gasly topped the timesheet in a 1:26.375 and took P1 from Lynn with Nato P3.

At the chequered flag, the top three remained unchanged. Giovinazzi, King, Luca Ghiotto, Marvin Kirchhöfer, Marciello, Oliver Rowland and Pic rounded the top ten

Circuito de Jerez - 29 March 2016

Driver

Team

Time

Difference

#
1

Norman Nato

Racing Engineering

1:25.811

45
2

Pierre Gasly

Prema Racing

1:25.961

+0.150

39
3

Jordan King

Racing Engineering

1:26.124

+0.313

49
4

Alex Lynn

DAMS

1:26.280

+0.469

51
5

Antonio Giovinazzi

Prema Racing

1:26.322

+0.511

29
6

Mitch Evans

Campos Racing

1:26.350

+0.539

52
7

Sergey Sirotkin

ART Grand Prix

1:26.405

+0.594

33
8

Arthur Pic

Team Rapax

1:26.650

+0.839

43
9

Oliver Rowland

MP Motorsport

1:26.674

+0.863

25
10

Gustav Malja

Team Rapax

1:26.706

+0.895

38
11

Raffaele Marciello

Russian Time

1:26.762

+0.951

33
12

Daniël de Jong

MP Motorsport

1:26.805

+0.994

22
13

Luca Ghiotto

Trident

1:26.855

+1.044

31
14

Marvin Kirchhöfer

Carlin

1:26.883

+1.072

44
15

Jimmy Eriksson

Arden International

1:26.888

+1.077

23
16

Artem Markelov

Russian Time

1:27.065

+1.254

37
17

Nicholas Latifi

DAMS

1:27.154

+1.343

50
18

Nobuharu Matsushita

ART Grand Prix

1:27.224

+1.413

59
19

Sean Gelael

Campos Racing

1:27.421

+1.610

49
20

Philo Paz Armand

Trident

1:27.838

+2.027

43
21

Nabil Jeffri

Arden International

1:27.846

+2.035

44

khasmir

Posts: 893

I'm gonna miss watching Vandoorne in GP2, that were some good times last year.
Sirotkin has some big shoes to fill at ART ;-)

1
Mar 30 2016 - 18:17

GP2 News Raffaele Marciello Pierre Gasly Alex Lynn Jordan King Sergey Sirotkin Norman Nato Nicholas Latifi Mitch Evans Antonio Giovinazzi Oliver Rowland Gustav Malja Arthur Pic Luca Ghiotto Jimmy Eriksson Arden International Russian Time Racing Engineering

Replies (2)

khasmir

Posts: 893
I'm gonna miss watching Vandoorne in GP2, that were some good times last year.
Sirotkin has some big shoes to fill at ART ;-)
- + 1
- Mar 30 2016 - 18:17
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Very much so, but Super Formula is supposed to be really exciting, and Im sure Vandoorne will do fine there. Such a pity we cannot watch it anywhere.
  + 1
  
  Mar 30 2016 - 19:39