Abu Dhabi GP2 testing: Raffaele Marciello fastest for Trident
Raffaele Marciello set the fastest time of the first day's post-season GP2 Series test at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi
The session was ended slightly early after Russian Time's Artem Markelov stopped on track, meaning the Russian's 2016 team-mate Marciello's 1m48.937s for Trident set the pace.
The Italian went top early on in the session, and held his position through several earlier red flags after Sean Gelael ran out of fuel and stopped on track, and then a collision between Antonio Fuoco and Felix Serralles.
Late jumps up the timesheets from ART's Nobuharu Matsushita and DAMS driver Oliver Rowland secured second and third respectively.
The Honda protege had topped the morning session after setting a best time of 1m49.483s to pip Marciello and Markelov.
Nicholas Latifi was only ninth in the morning, but he rose to fourth in the afternoon, two spots behind his DAMS team-mate Rowland.
Rapax's GP2 returnee Johnny Cecotto Jr finished fifth, pipping rapidly improving GP3 champion Charles Leclerc. Leclerc was 14th for the now Ferrari red Prema Powerteam in the morning.
Manor Formula 1 development driver Jordan King was seventh for Russian Time ahead of team-mate Markelov.
Luca Ghiotto followed his morning's seventh fastest time with ninth in the afternoon, displacing Gelael and 2016 runenr-up Antonio Giovinazzi.
MORNING TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 1m49.483s | - | 28 |
| 2 | Raffaele Marciello | Trident | 1m49.767s | 0.284s | 7 |
| 3 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m49.892s | 0.409s | 19 |
| 4 | Jordan King | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m50.272s | 0.789s | 18 |
| 5 | Johnny Cecotto Jr. | Rapax | 1m50.411s | 0.928s | 12 |
| 6 | Oliver Rowland | DAMS | 1m50.550s | 1.067s | 11 |
| 7 | Luca Ghiotto | Rapax | 1m50.593s | 1.110s | 16 |
| 8 | Sean Gelael | Arden International | 1m50.594s | 1.111s | 14 |
| 9 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 1m50.635s | 1.152s | 9 |
| 10 | Gustav Malja | Racing Engineering | 1m50.763s | 1.280s | 18 |
| 11 | Louis Deletraz | Racing Engineering | 1m50.922s | 1.439s | 21 |
| 12 | Antonio Fuoco | Prema Racing | 1m50.940s | 1.457s | 31 |
| 13 | Alex Palou | Pertamina Campos Racing | 1m50.942s | 1.459s | 20 |
| 14 | Charles Leclerc | Prema Racing | 1m50.958s | 1.475s | 30 |
| 15 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Arden International | 1m51.033s | 1.550s | 18 |
| 16 | Egor Orudzhev | Pertamina Campos Racing | 1m51.050s | 1.567s | 25 |
| 17 | Philo Paz Armand | Trident | 1m51.269s | 1.786s | 23 |
| 18 | Alexander Albon | ART Grand Prix | 1m51.277s | 1.794s | 27 |
| 19 | Sergio Sette Camara | MP Motorsport | 1m51.509s | 2.026s | 23 |
| 20 | Mahaveer Raghunathan | Carlin | 1m54.075s | 4.592s | 26 |
| 21 | Felix Serralles | Carlin | 1m54.249s | 4.766s | 8 |
| 22 | Salvatore De Plano | MP Motorsport | 1m58.844s | 9.361s | 23 |
AFTERNOON TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raffaele Marciello | Trident | 1m48.937s | - | 23 |
| 2 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 1m49.107s | 0.170s | 19 |
| 3 | Oliver Rowland | DAMS | 1m49.182s | 0.245s | 20 |
| 4 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 1m49.247s | 0.310s | 26 |
| 5 | Johnny Cecotto Jr. | Rapax | 1m49.247s | 0.310s | 13 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | Prema Racing | 1m49.265s | 0.328s | 30 |
| 7 | Jordan King | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m49.348s | 0.411s | 19 |
| 8 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m49.426s | 0.489s | 24 |
| 9 | Luca Ghiotto | Rapax | 1m49.467s | 0.530s | 20 |
| 10 | Sean Gelael | Arden International | 1m49.709s | 0.772s | 28 |
| 11 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Arden International | 1m49.813s | 0.876s | 27 |
| 12 | Louis Deletraz | Racing Engineering | 1m49.854s | 0.917s | 28 |
| 13 | Alex Palou | Pertamina Campos Racing | 1m49.870s | 0.933s | 33 |
| 14 | Alexander Albon | ART Grand Prix | 1m49.945s | 1.008s | 31 |
| 15 | Gustav Malja | Racing Engineering | 1m49.947s | 1.010s | 23 |
| 16 | Antonio Fuoco | Prema Racing | 1m50.046s | 1.109s | 27 |
| 17 | Philo Paz Armand | Trident | 1m50.187s | 1.250s | 31 |
| 18 | Egor Orudzhev | Pertamina Campos Racing | 1m50.582s | 1.645s | 30 |
| 19 | Felix Serralles | Carlin | 1m51.656s | 2.719s | 26 |
| 20 | Mahaveer Raghunathan | Carlin | 1m52.425s | 3.488s | 23 |
| 21 | Salvatore De Plano | MP Motorsport | 1m55.584s | 6.647s | 22 |
DRIVER LINE-UPS SHUFFLE FOR DAY TWO
Day two on Thursday will have new faces in the field, with Prema's recent 2017 European Formula 3 signing Callum Ilott getting his first taste of GP2 at ART Grand Prix alongside Alexander Albon.
DTM driver Daniel Juncadella will join Campos Racing alongside Formula V8 3.5 frontrunner Egor Orudzhev.
GP3 race winner Nyck de Vries will work with Rapax and Cecotto, King moves to MP Motorsport and Ghiotto moves to Arden International.
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