Richie Stanaway quickest at Yas Marina

Status Grand Prix driver sets fastest laptime on Day 3

By Franck Drui

11 March 2015 - 14:06
Richie Stanaway quickest at Yas Marina

The final day of the pre-season testing at Yas Marina opened once again in windy conditions. Alexander Rossi was the first driver to feed onto the track, closely followed by teammate Jordan King, but it was Stoffel Vandoorne who was the early pace setter. The proceedings were halted within the first forty minutes after Artem Markelov stopped on track at Turn 7. When the pitlane went green again, some drivers switched to super soft Pirelli tyres and put their visor down. Raffaele Marciello was the first man to dip under 1m50s, but Mitch Evans bettered the Italian’s laptime to break the 1m49s barrier. Vandoorne went even quicker and set a laptime of 1:48.921 just as a second red flag period occurred courtesy of Evans who stopped at Turn 9.

The session restarted and on the one hour mark, Marciello improved again, enough to edge Vandoorne out of the top spot. Evans went back on track and was able to go even faster in a 1:48.850 and took control of the timesheet. At the halfway mark, Richie Stanaway went top with a laptime four tenths quicker and sat pretty at the head of the standings until the chequered flag dropped. Pierre Gasly surged to second in the closing stages ahead of Evans, Marciello, Rossi, Vandoorne, Alex Lynn, Rio Haryanto, Sergey Sirotkin and Arthur Pic.

After a one hour break, the pitlane reopened for the afternoon session and Haryanto was the early pace setter. At the halfway point, Lynn went top, one tenth quicker than the Indonesian driver. The proceedings were halted after Rossi went off track and lightly hit the barrier at Turn 8. The session restarted with one hour remaining but there was another short interruption after Zoel Amberg stopped at Turn 14. The session resumed and Sirotkin found some extra pace to clock in a laptime of 1:49.158 and moved up to P1.

A final red flag stalled proceedings, courtesy of Markelov who stopped on the straight/finish line. At the restart, there were ten minutes left on the clock for a final shoot out and for the drivers to put their last set of super soft tyres to good use, which is exactly what Pic did moving up to P2. A double yellow flag in sector 2 in the dying minutes however ruined any last attempt to shine as Sirotkin stopped at Turn 19.

The Russian thus remained unchallenged until the chequered flag, but thanks to his morning laptime, Stanaway finished the first pre-season test on top. The next test session will take place on April 01-02-03 at Sakhir International Circuit.

Morning results

PosDriverTeamLaptimeLaps
1. Richie Stanaway Status Grand Prix 1:48.441 28
2. Pierre Gasly DAMS 1:48.605 36
3. Mitch Evans RUSSIAN TIME 1:48.717 25
4. Raffaele Marciello Trident 1:48.850 35
5. Alexander Rossi Racing Engineering 1:48.857 23
6. Stoffel Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 1:48.921 31
7. Alex Lynn DAMS 1:48.937 32
8. Rio Haryanto Campos Racing 1:49.001 17
9. Sergey Sirotkin Rapax 1:49.023 12
10. Arthur Pic Campos Racing 1:49.115 16
11. André Negrao Arden International 1:49.142 30
12. Jordan King Racing Engineering 1:49.194 24
13. Marco Sorensen Carlin 1:49.271 22
14. Julian Leal Carlin 1:49.322 22
15. Nathanaël Berthon Lazarus 1:49.426 32
16. Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1:49.679 39
17. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:49.693 30
18. Rene Binder Trident 1:49.767 20
19. Vittorio Ghirelli MP Motorsport 1:50.058 17
20. Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:50.109 32
21. Norman Nato Arden International 1:50.551 9
22. Daniel De Jong MP Motorsport 1:50.885 16
23. Robert Visoiu Rapax 1:51.076 34
24. Sergio Canamasas Hilmer Motorsport 1:51.134 34
25. Zoel Amberg Lazarus 1:51.292 2
26. Axcil Jefferies Hilmer Motorsport

Afternoon results

PosDriverTeamLaptimeLaps
1. Sergey Sirotkin Rapax 1:49.158 29
2. Arthur Pic Campos Racing 1:49.260 37
3. Alex Lynn DAMS 1:49.277 20
4. Nathanaël Berthon Lazarus 1:49.379 18
5. Norman Nato Arden International 1:49.391 23
6. Rio Haryanto Campos Racing 1:49.431 35
7. Pierre Gasly DAMS 1:49.532 16
8. Daniel De Jong MP Motorsport 1:49.859 15
9. Mitch Evans RUSSIAN TIME 1:50.097 9
10. Zoel Amberg Lazarus 1:50.197 21
11. Sergio Canamasas Hilmer Motorsport 1:50.227 34
12. André Negrao Arden International 1:50.741 26
13. Vittorio Ghirelli MP Motorsport 1:50.842 23
14. Robert Visoiu Rapax 1:51.024 20
15. Rene Binder Trident 1:51.084 34
16. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:52.058 25
17. Stoffel Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 1:52.501 38
18. Marco Sorensen Carlin 1:52.709 37
19. Raffaele Marciello Trident 1:53.118 24
20. Jordan King Racing Engineering 1:53.290 40
21. Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1:53.296 38
22. Julian Leal Carlin 1:53.611 36
23. Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:53.952 24
24. Alexander Rossi Racing Engineering 1:53.991 29
25. Richie Stanaway Status Grand Prix 1:54.005 24
26. Axcil Jefferies Hilmer Motorsport

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