F2: Latifi quickest on Day 2

30/03/2017
NEWS STORY

Nicholas Latifi has topped day two by setting the pace in this morning's test session at the Bahrain International Circuit, stopping the clock at 1:40.541 in the second half of the session to top the timesheets ahead of RUSSIAN TIME teammates Luca Ghiotto and Artem Markelov, while the afternoon was given over to race simulations, with Nyck De Vries topping the timesheets on 1:41.212 ahead of Gustav Malja and Charles Leclerc.

The day opened to gloriously sunny conditions, with the drivers heading out on their medium Pirelli compounds as soon as the lights went green. Johnny Cecotto set the early pace, stopping the clock at 1:41.371, four tenths faster than teammate Nyck de Vries. After a brief red flag Markelov hit his pace, but Ghiotto was the first man to break the 1:41 barrier, followed soon after by Leclerc and Norman Nato.

Just after the halfway mark Latifi grabbed P1 with his blistering lap on soft tyres, a tenth quicker than Ghiotto, and his rivals were unable to challenge. In the final hour a number of drivers tried different set ups to grab the top spot, but to no avail: Latifi owned the morning session when the chequered flag was shown.

Following a two hour break, the action resumed with the field mainly focusing on race simulations and pitstop practices. Sergio Sette Camara set the pace until Cecotto improved on the Brazilian's laptime to go P1. With one hour left in the day, Camara reclaimed the top spot dipping under 1m42, before Malja also found some extra pace to move up to P2. Fifteen minutes later, de Vries blew past them all with a time good enough to be the afternoon's fastest man.

After the chequered flag, Camara's car was found underweight. Therefore, the MP Motorsport driver had all times deleted from the results, promoting Leclerc to the top 3 finish.

Morning Times

1. Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1:40.541
2. Luca Ghiotto RUSSIAN TIME 1:40.678
3. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:40.702
4. Jordan King MP Motorsport 1:40.884
5. Charles Leclerc PREMA Racing 1:40.885
6. Norman Nato Pertamina Arden 1:40.909
7. Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 1:40.927
8. Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1:41.057
9. Oliver Rowland DAMS 1:41.156
10. Sergio Sette Camara MP Motorsport 1:41.351
11. Johnny Cecotto Rapax 1:41.371
12. Antonio Fuoco PREMA Racing 1:41.398
13. Louis Deletraz Racing Engineering 1:41.463
14. Nyck de Vries Rapax 1:41.568
15. Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 1:41.984
16. Sergio Canamasas Trident 1:42.042
17. Sean Gelael Pertamina Arden 1:42.249
18. Gustav Malja Racing Engineering 1:42.347
19. Raoul Hyman Campos Racing 1:42.598
20. Nabil Jeffri Trident 1:42.973

Afternoon Times

1. Nyck de Vries Rapax 1:41.212
2. Gustav Malja Racing Engineering 1:41.546
3. Charles Leclerc PREMA Racing 1:41.689
4. Johnny Cecotto Rapax 1:41.833
5. Antonio Fuoco PREMA Racing 1:41.957
6. Sergio Canamasas Trident 1:42.197
7. Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 1:43.171
8. Nabil Jeffri Trident 1:44.258
9. Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1:44.354
10. Louis Delétraz Racing Engineering 1:44.415
11. Oliver Rowland DAMS 1:44.437
12. Raoul Hyman Campos Racing 1:45.008
13. Jordan King MP Motorsport 1:45.191
14. Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1:45.705
15. Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1:46.607
16. Sean Gelael Pertamina Arden 1:47.020
17. Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 1:47.050
18. Luca Ghiotto RUSSIAN TIME 1:47.325
19. Norman Nato Pertamina Arden 1:47.379

*Car #14 (Sergio Sette Camara) found underweight - all times deleted

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Published: 30/03/2017
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