Rio Haryanto and Jon Lancaster claimed the top spots in the final two days of GP2 Series testing at Bahrain this week.
Following on from a successful run in the opening test in Abu Dhabi, Haryanto and Lancaster showed their worth once again, as the season opener – also at the Bahrain International Circuit – closes in.
Under cool conditions and overcast skies, Haryanto pipped Caterham teammate Alexander Rossi on Thursday, with a superb lap at 1:39.129s – some 1.5s quicker than the opening day and easily the best time of the week.
Indeed both Caterham’s timed quicker than last year’s GP2 pole time at the circuit, indicating that the Caterham team may feature rather strongly in qualifying this season.
Times slowed in the afternoon, as the field switched to long runs. Daniel de Jong and Johnny Cecotto Jr headed the timesheets in the afternoon, with their quick laps registered on the soft Pirelli tyres; however Colombian racer Julian Leal placed his Carlin in 3rd spot on the hard compound tyres.
Rossi was also present near the top of the order on the final day, as he trailed Lancaster by 0.046s at the chequered flag. The Briton initially swapped the top spot with McLaren junior and ART GP racer Stoffel Vandoorne, before the Belgian was shuffled down to 4th by Rossi and Carlin’s Felipe Nasr.
With only a few weeks until the season start, Lancaster has still yet to secure a seat.
As with the previous day, attention switched to race stints and hard compound tyres in the afternoon with Jolyon Palmer, Mitch Evans, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs and Cecotto Jr showing their hands.
