02/12/2016
NEWS STORY
Nicholas Latifi concluded his GP2 season on top at Yas Marina Circuit: the Canadian driver from DAMS set the fastest overall lap time over the past three days of post-season testing with a 1:49.929. Johnny Cecotto (Rapax) and Jordan King (MP Motorsport) completed the top three.
The final day of post-season testing opened in slightly cooler conditions with the twenty-one drivers on Medium Pirelli tyres. King set the early pace in a 1:50.136 before a red flag period caused by Sergio Sette Camara after he clipped the barrier at Turn 19.
At the restart, Louis Deletraz found some extra pace to clock in a lap time of 1:50.403 but it was not enough to edge out King of the top spot. Halfway through the session, a second red flag was caused after Cecotto stopped on track at Turn 20. When the action resumed, King bettered his own time and was the first man to dip under 1m50s.
The remainder of the session was trouble-free and studious with most of the drivers completing long runs. At the chequered flag, King's lap time of 1:49.880 was unbeaten. Deletraz, Cecotto, Gustav Malja, Oliver Rowland, Artem Markelov, Antonio Fuoco, Sette Camara, Egor Orudzhev and Philo Paz Armand completed the top ten.
Once again, the evening session opened at night time but was quickly stopped by a red flag period caused by debris on track. At the restart, it was Sean Gelael who set the early pace with a lap time of 1:49.728 before Markelov posted a lap time of 1:49.226 to go top.
One hour into the session, Rowland clocked in a lap of 1:49.216 which was soon bettered by only 0.01s by his teammate Latifi. In the final stages, the Canadian went even quicker and lapped the track in a 1:48.929 - the fastest time of the past three days. He then remained at the top of the timings until the chequered flag.
The proceedings were briefly halted one last time due to debris on track. At the chequered flag, Latifi topped the session ahead of Cecotto, King, Rowland, Markelov, Fuoco, Charles Leclerc, Gelael, Alexander Albon and Callum Ilott.
Morning results
1. Jordan King MP Motorsport 1:49.880
2. Louis Deletraz Racing Engineering 1:50.403
3. Johnny Cecotto Rapax 1:50.543
4. Gustav Malja Racing Engineering 1:50.547
5. Oliver Rowland DAMS 1:50.618
6. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:50.737
7. Antonio Fuoco PREMA Racing 1:50.783
8. Sergio Sette Camara Carlin 1:50.960
9. Egor Orudzhev Pertamina Campos Racing 1:51.028 25
10. Philo Paz Armand Trident 1:51.045
11. Nyck De Vries Rapax 1:51.256
12. Daniel Juncadella Pertamina Campos Racing 1:51.479
13. Chris Hoher RUSSIAN TIME 1:51.762
14. Nabil Jeffri Trident 1:52.245
15. Sean Gelael Arden International 1:52.443
16. Mahaveer Raghunathan MP Motorsport 1:52.575
17. Charles Leclerc PREMA Racing 1:52.598
18. Luca Ghiotto Arden International 1:52.694
19. Callum Ilott ART Grand Prix 1:52.806
20. Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1:52.841
21. Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 1:52.866
Afternoon results
1. Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1:48.929
2. Johnny Cecotto Rapax 1:49.141
3. Jordan King MP Motorsport 1:49.148
4. Oliver Rowland DAMS 1:49.188
5. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:49.226
6. Antonio Fuoco PREMA Racing 1:49.345
7. Charles Leclerc PREMA Racing 1:49.384
8. Sean Gelael Arden International 1:49.385
9. Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 1:49.405
10. Callum Ilott ART Grand Prix 1:49.421
11. Nyck De Vries Rapax 1:49.573
12. Luca Ghiotto Arden International 1:49.585
13. Gustav Malja Racing Engineering 1:49.775
14. Louis Deletraz Racing Engineering 1:49.941
15. Sergio Sette Camara Carlin 1:50.036
16. Philo Paz Armand Trident 1:50.254
17. Daniel Juncadella Pertamina Campos Racing 1:50.665
18. Chris Hoher RUSSIAN TIME 1:50668
19. Nabil Jeffri Trident 1:50.719
20. Egor Orudzhev Pertamina Campos Racing 1:51.600
21. Mahaveer Raghunathan MP Motorsport 1:52.189
GP2 Media