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Abu Dhabi GP2 test: Jolyon Palmer quickest on day one

Jolyon Palmer set the pace on the first day of GP2 2014 pre-season testing in Abu Dhabi

The Briton, who switched from Carlin to DAMS for a shot at this year's title, worked his way down to a 1m49.126s in the final hour of the day.

That left him just one tenth of a second clear of Mitch Evans, who will drive for 2013 teams' champion Russian Time this season.

Palmer's team-mate Stephane Richelmi finished half a second down the road, in third overall.

Daniel Abt, driving for Force India junior team Hilmer, wound up fourth, just ahead of Formula Renault 3.5 convert and McLaren protege Stoffel Vandoorne.

GP2 race winners Johnny Cecotto and Stefano Coletti sandwiched Felipe Nasr in the fight for sixth, with Coletti the last man to break the 1m50s barrier on day one.

Rio Haryanto led Caterham stable-mate Alexander Rossi in the morning session, but the pair both dropped down the order as conditions improved in the afternoon.

Rossi wound up ninth overall, while Haryanto was 13th, fractions ahead of last year's European Formula 3 champion Raffaele Marciello.

Four red flags - for Artem Markelov, Facu Regalia, Julian Leal and Axcil Jefferies - punctured the day.

Morning times

Pos Driver                 Team                  Time      Laps
 1. Rio Haryanto           Caterham              1m50.862s  13
 2. Alexander Rossi        Caterham              1m51.135s  12
 3. Jolyon Palmer          DAMS                  1m51.232s  11
 4. Stephane Richelmi      DAMS                  1m51.479s  11
 5. Felipe Nasr            Carlin                1m51.590s  16
 6. Johnny Cecotto         Trident               1m51.599s  9
 7. Julian Leal            Carlin                1m51.609s  12
 8. Jon Lancaster          MP Motorsport         1m51.765s  13
 9. Rene Binder            Arden                 1m51.893s  9
10. Mitch Evans            Russian Time          1m51.928s  17
11. Stefano Coletti        Racing Engineering    1m52.121s  10
12. Kimiya Sato            Campos                1m52.179s  24
13. Daniel Abt             Hilmer                1m52.259s  18
14. Facu Regalia           Hilmer                1m52.398s  10
15. Nathanael Berthon      Trident Racing        1m52.586s  12
16. Raffaele Marciello     Racing Engineering    1m52.621s  16
17. Arthur Pic             Campos                1m52.820s  23
18. Conor Daly             Lazarus               1m53.022s  16
19. Simon Trummer          Rapax                 1m53.041s  8
20. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs    Rapax                 1m53.163s  10
21. Axcil Jefferies        Trident               1m53.686s  20
22. Artem Markelov         Russian Time          1m53.807s  12
23. Takuya Izawa           ART                   2m23.231s  27
24. Stoffel Vandoorne      ART                   2m23.750s  28
25. Andre Negrao           Arden                 no time     0
26. Daniel de Jong         MP Motorsport         no time     0

Afternoon times

Pos Driver                 Team                  Time      Laps
 1. Jolyon Palmer          DAMS                  1m49.126s  24
 2. Mitch Evans            Russian Time          1m49.292s  13
 3. Stephane Richelmi      DAMS                  1m49.756s  28
 4. Daniel Abt             Hilmer                1m49.777s  22
 5. Stoffel Vandoorne      ART                   1m49.790s  28
 6. Johnny Cecotto         Trident               1m49.892s  19
 7. Felipe Nasr            Carlin                1m49.896s  29
 8. Stefano Coletti        Racing Engineering    1m49.963s  23
 9. Alexander Rossi        Caterham              1m50.018s  25
10. Arthur Pic             Campos Racing         1m50.204s  19
11. Takuya Izawa           ART                   1m50.219s  37
12. Andre Negrao           Arden                 1m50.241s  22
13. Rio Haryanto           Caterham              1m50.256s  24
14. Raffaele Marciello     Racing Engineering    1m50.261s  24
15. Daniel de Jong         MP                    1m50.265s  6
16. Facu Regalia           Hilmer                1m50.289s  17
17. Jon Lancaster          MP                    1m50.434s  17
18. Rene Binder            Arden                 1m50.496s  23
19. Julian Leal            Carlin                1m50.541s  27
20. Artem Markelov         Russian Time          1m50.925s  21
21. Conor Daly             Lazarus               1m50.933s  25
22. Nathanael Berthon      Lazarus               1m51.026s  20
23. Simon Trummer          Rapax                 1m51.043s  23
24. Axcil Jefferies        Trident               1m51.300s  29
25. Kimiya Sato            Campos                1m51.331s  20
26. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs    Rapax                 1m51.437s  16

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