Jon Lancaster narrowly edged Johnny Cecotto and Jolyon Palmer to set the pace on the third and final day of GP2 pre-season testing in Abu Dhabi.
The Briton hit the front early on in the morning session, but was then displaced as Stefano Coletti and then Cecotto made progress as track conditions improved.
Lancaster, one of only three drivers at the test without a full-time drive, put MP Motorsport back on top however, dropping down to a 1m49.653s that would stay unbeaten for the remainder of the day.
Trident’s Cecotto wound up second, two tenths down, with DAMS driver Palmer – quickest on the first two days of the test – just nine hundredths of a second further down the road.
Daniel Abt, driving for new Force India junior team Hilmer Motorsport, beat Russian Time’s Mitch Evans to fourth.
McLaren protege and Formula Renault 3.5 convert Stoffel Vandoorne was sixth for ART, bumping Coletti down to seventh.
Caterham’s Alexander Rossi completed the top eight ahead of 2013 European Formula 3 champion Raffaele Marciello and series veteran Julian Leal.
Campos Racing’s Arthur Pic topped a significantly slower afternoon session, as a late sandstorm prevented anyone from cracking the 1m51s barrier.
Conor Daly was able to return after his day two barrel roll and, after a low key seven laps in the morning, went seventh fastest in the afternoon.
The GP2 field will test again in Bahrain on March 19-21, before the 2014 season opens at the Sakhir track on April 5-6.
Combined Thursday testing times: Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Jon Lancaster MP 1m49.653s 45 2. Johnny Cecotto Trident 1m49.880s +0.227s 48 3. Jolyon Palmer DAMS 1m49.972s +0.319s 54 4. Daniel Abt Hilmer 1m50.090s +0.437s 51 5. Mitch Evans Russian Time 1m50.181s +0.528s 49 6. Stoffel Vandoorne ART 1m50.278s +0.625s 74 7. Stefano Coletti Racing Engineering 1m50.344s +0.691s 52 8. Alexander Rossi Caterham 1m50.476s +0.823s 84 9. Raffaele Marciello Racing Engineering 1m50.485s +0.832s 63 10. Julian Leal Carlin 1m50.565s +0.912s 57 11. Kimiya Sato Campos 1m50.748s +1.095s 67 12. Facu Regalia Hilmer 1m50.778s +1.125s 65 13. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m50.830s +1.177s 59 14. Rio Haryanto Caterham 1m50.976s +1.323s 68 15. Arthur Pic Campos 1m51.006s +1.353s 49 16. Andre Negrao Arden 1m51.020s +1.367s 64 17. Rene Binder Arden 1m51.184s +1.531s 47 18. Daniel De Jong MP 1m51.198s +1.545s 43 19. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Rapax 1m51.401s +1.748s 36 20. Nathanael Berthon Lazarus 1m51.510s +1.857s 34 21. Axcil Jefferies Trident 1m51.556s +1.903s 56 22. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m51.674s +2.021s 52 23. Artem Markelov Russian Time 1m51.736s +2.083s 61 24. Conor Daly Lazarus 1m51.994s +2.341s 54 25. Takuya Izawa ART 1m52.020s +2.367s 60 26. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m52.329s +2.676s 32
