Pierre Gasly claimed first blood in today’s free practice session in sunny Barcelona, leading the timesheets throughout most of the 45 minute session to take the honours in the first live session of the 2016 GP2 Series season ahead of Alex Lynn and Artem Markelov.
Gasly and his 2015 teammate battled early in the session for the top spot, swapping it between them before the Red Bull test driver put a lock on the position with a time of 1:29.519: the Williams tester couldn’t get closer than a tenth away and had to make do as the teams concentrated on setting up the cars for qualifying and the races to come.
Markelov joined the pair in the top three 15 minutes in, laying down a marker as he pipped through a very tight top ten. The remainder of the session passed without incident as the drivers concentrated on staying on the track: with qualifying just a few hours away no one wanted to give their mechanics and unwelcome present.
The top ten was split by just one second, with Norman Nato, Sergey Sirotkin, Jordan King, top rookie Antonio Giovinazzi, Nobuharu Matsushita, Oliver Rowland and Marvin Kirchhöfer looking to overturn the top three in what promises to be a tight qualifying session this afternoon.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Pierre Gasly | PREMA Racing | 1:29.519 | 18 |
| 2. | Alex Lynn | DAMS | 1:29.623 | 20 |
| 3. | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1:29.860 | 16 |
| 4. | Norman Nato | Racing Engineering | 1:29.874 | 18 |
| 5. | Sergey Sirotkin | ART Grand Prix | 1:29.960 | 19 |
| 6. | Jordan King | Racing Engineering | 1:30.001 | 18 |
| 7. | Antonio Giovinazzi | PREMA Racing | 1:30.057 | 20 |
| 8. | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 1:30.310 | 19 |
| 9. | Oliver Rowland | MP Motorsport | 1:20.345 | 18 |
| 10. | Marvin Kirchhöfer | Carlin | 1:30.470 | 16 |
| 11. | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 1:30.542 | 20 |
| 12. | Luca Ghiotto | Trident | 1:30.556 | 17 |
| 13. | Raffaele Marciello | RUSSIAN TIME | 1:30.573 | 16 |
| 14. | Daniël de Jong | MP Motorsport | 1:30.662 | 17 |
| 15. | Mitch Evans | Pertamina Campos Racing | 1:30.720 | 15 |
| 16. | Arthur Pic | Rapax | 1:30.722 | 19 |
| 17. | Jimmy Eriksson | Arden International | 1:30.742 | 17 |
| 18. | Gustav Malja | Rapax | 1:30.823 | 21 |
| 19. | Sergio Canamasas | Carlin | 1:31.015 | 17 |
| 20. | Sean Gelael | Pertamina Campos Racing | 1:31.304 | 15 |
| 21. | Nabil Jeffri | Arden International | 1:31.577 | 16 |
| 22. | Philo Paz Armand | Trident | 1:32.803 | 21 |