King registered a fastest lap of 1min 41.494secs during his afternoon run to set the overall best mark of the day.
The GP2 Series is gearing up for the start of its 2015 season, which will also be held in Bahrain later this month in support of this year’s Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. There are 10 rounds for the 2015 GP2 season. Each event will be supporting a Formula One Grand Prix. GP2 is highly regarded as the chief feeder series to Formula One.
The Briton enjoyed 36 laps of work for the day in his Racing Engineering challenger, which performed best as the track temperatures cooled off with the tests beginning to wind down for the evening.
Mitch Evans of Russian Time clocked the day’s second quickest lap. The Kiwi had a mark of 1min 41.608secs. Evans enjoyed the most consistency amongst all the participants today, having steered his car to the top the timesheet during the morning session with a fastest lap of 1min 42.479secs.
Russian Sergey Sirotkin of Rapax had the day’s third best lap of 1min 41.636secs.
Frenchman Norman Nato (1min 14.755secs) of Arden International followed being classified fourth, Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne (1min 41.851secs) of ART Grand Prix was fifth, and Dane Marco Sorensen (1min 41.861secs) of Carlin was sixth.
Colombian Julian Leal (1min 41.985secs) of Carlin was ranked seventh while Frenchman Nathanael Berthon (1min 42.004secs) of Lazarus rounded out the fastest eight.
Each of the top-ranked drivers all set their best times in the afternoon.
At the end of the morning session, Nato was classified second with a fastest lap of 1min 42.479secs. Sorensen was third, Berthon fourth, Leal fifth and Vandoorne sixth.
Spaniard Sergio Canamasas of MP Motorsport and American Alexander Rossi of Racing Engineering completed the best eight but the pair could not maintain their pace after the midday break.
Twenty-five of the 26 drivers on the test’s entry list took part in Wednesday’s sessions.
Testing continues Thursday with the morning session taking place between 9am and 12noon, to be followed by the afternoon run from 2pm to 5pm. Day three on Friday April 3 will be held from 9am to 12noon and then from 1pm to 4pm.
Testing at BIC is the second of the pre-season for GP2. They earlier tested in Abu Dhabi last month, and a majority of the field is back for some more time in their challengers.
More than 60 drivers have over the years received the chance to drive a Formula One car as a result of their time in GP2. Eight drivers from this season’s Formula One grid are GP2 graduates, including five former GP2 champions in Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Nico Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean.
Tickets to the Bahrain Grand Prix are selling fast and race fans are advised to purchase theirs today to avoid any disappointment. Tickets can be purchased at the BIC sales outlets in Bahrain City Centre and Seef Mall, online at www.bahraingp.com or by calling the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000.
The 2015 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix is the fourth round of this year’s FIA Formula One World Championship. The big night race will be complemented by plenty of fun family entertainment off the track.