Lorandi fastest on Day 2 in Yas Marina

Jenzer Motorsport’s Alessio Lorandi clocked the quickest time on day two of post-season testing. The Italian’s laptime of 1:55.734 was set in the afternoon.

Finn and Red Bull protégé Niko Kari led the way in the morning session at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Day 2 of post-season testing in Abu Dhabi got underway with a brand new face: Frenchman Anthoine Hubert with ART GP, as well as the return of Kevin Joerg (Arden). ART GP’s Jack Aitken was first into the 1m56’s with the track slightly damp at Turns 13/14 at the start of the day. Matheus Leist clocked the second quickest time for Trident in a busy start to proceedings.

Switching to Arden Motorsport for day 2, Steijn Schothorst moved up to P2 ahead of Max Defourny (ART GP). After the one hour mark, Aitken continued to lead the way by half a second, until Kari shot to the head of the timesheet with a 1:55.949. Lorandi went third at the start of the final hour where the top three remained unchanged in a trouble-free session.

At the chequered flag it was Kari, Aitken, Lorandi, Leist, Arjun Maini, Schothorst, Hubert, Giuliano Alesi, Max Defourny and Leonardo Pulcini.

Schothorst was first to set the early pace at the beginning of the afternoon session. There was a brief red flag for Alesi who stopped on track. Once the session resumed it was Kari who lit up the timing screens to take top spot until Leist demoted the Finn to second. Santino Ferrucci (testing for Trident) then bettered his time to go P1 as he was the first driver to dip into the 1m56’s.

Lorandi again showed his pace as he flew to the top of the timings before Kari re-claimed P1. There was a second red flag when Ferrucci stopped at the pitlane exit. The action was quick to resume and it was an Arden one-two-three briefly with Schothorst leading the way over Kari and Joerg.

Koiranen GP tester Raoul Hyman moved up the order to P2 in the final half hour while the Dutchman improved on his own personal best to lap in the 1m55’s in P1. There was another short interruption to proceedings when Julian Falchero stopped on the back straight. There were under 10 minutes remaining when the track was live again, but there was enough time for Italian Lorandi to sweep into P1 and retain it until the chequered flag.

Behind the Jenzer driver was: Ferrucci, Schothorst, Kari, Hubert, Raoul Hyman, Aitken, Leist, Maini and Joerg.

Tomorrow’s third and final day of post-season testing will run from 08.00 – 10.30 with the afternoon session at 13.20 – 15.50 local time (GMT+4).

Day Two – morning session