Photo: Jed Leicester/GP2 Series Media Service
Status GP2 tester Richie Stanaway showed what he can do as he beat the series frontrunners to top the morning session on the third and final day of the first pre-season test in Abu Dhabi.
Midway through the three hours of running, the Kiwi posted a 1m48.441s – the best time of the week so far.
Previous pace-setter Pierre Gasly was forced to settle for second with his lap in the closing stages, 0.164s slower than Stanaway. Mitch Evans was third, having been quickest until being relegated by his compatriot Stanaway.
Raffaele Marciello was fourth, closely followed by Alexander Rossi. Sixth was Stoffel Vandoorne ahead of Gasly’s DAMS team-mate Alex Lynn. The Campos drivers Rio Haryanto and Arthur Pic made the top ten, either side of Rapax rookie Sergey Sirotkin.
The session was interrupted by two red flags in the first hour, caused by Russian Time drivers Artem Markelov and Evans stopping on track.
Morning session results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Richie Stanaway | Status Grand Prix | 1:48.441 | 28 | |
| 2 | Pierre Gasly | DAMS | 1:48.605 | 0.164 | 36 |
| 3 | Mitch Evans | Russian Time | 1:48.717 | 0.276 | 25 |
| 4 | Raffaele Marciello | Trident | 1:48.850 | 0.409 | 35 |
| 5 | Alexander Rossi | Racing Engineering | 1:48.857 | 0.416 | 23 |
| 6 | Stoffel Vandoorne | ART Grand Prix | 1:48.921 | 0.480 | 31 |
| 7 | Alex Lynn | DAMS | 1:48.937 | 0.496 | 32 |
| 8 | Rio Haryanto | Campos Racing | 1:49.001 | 0.560 | 17 |
| 9 | Sergey Sirotkin | Rapax | 1:49.023 | 0.582 | 12 |
| 10 | Arthur Pic | Campos Racing | 1:49.115 | 0.674 | 16 |
| 11 | Andre Negrao | Arden International | 1:49.142 | 0.701 | 30 |
| 12 | Jordan King | Racing Engineering | 1:49.194 | 0.753 | 24 |
| 13 | Marco Sorensen | Carlin | 1:49.271 | 0.830 | 22 |
| 14 | Julian Leal | Carlin | 1:49.322 | 0.881 | 22 |
| 15 | Nathanael Berthon | Lazarus | 1:49.426 | 0.985 | 32 |
| 16 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 1:49.679 | 1.238 | 39 |
| 17 | Artem Markelov | Russian Time | 1:49.693 | 1.252 | 30 |
| 18 | Rene Binder | Trident | 1:49.767 | 1.326 | 20 |
| 19 | Vittorio Ghirelli | MP Motorsport | 1:50.058 | 1.617 | 17 |
| 20 | Marlon Stockinger | Status Grand Prix | 1:50.109 | 1.668 | 32 |
| 21 | Norman Nato | Arden International | 1:50.551 | 2.110 | 9 |
| 22 | Daniel De Jong | MP Motorsport | 1:50.885 | 2.444 | 16 |
| 23 | Robert Visoiu | Rapax | 1:51.076 | 2.635 | 34 |
| 24 | Sergio Canamasas | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:51.134 | 2.693 | 34 |
| 25 | Zoel Amberg | Lazarus | 1:51.292 | 2.851 | 2 |
| 26 | Axcil Jefferies | Hilmer Motorsport | No time | 0 |