Red Bull protege Pierre Gasly remained on top for GP2 Series newcomer Prema Powerteam as the championship’s first 2016 test ended at Barcelona on Friday.

Gasly’s lap of 1m27.386s on the soft tyres in the morning was sufficient to leave him fastest for a second straight day.

He was two-and-a-half tenths of a second clear of Racing Engineering driver Norman Nato.

Gasly’s team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi was third and best rookie, followed by Alex Lynn and Luca Ghiotto.

Wednesday pacesetter Sergey Sirotkin was in the mix at the front early on but went off at the first S-bend during a soft-tyre run so ended up 10th.

Other incidents during the day included a minor tangle between Raffaele Marciello and Rene Binder, and both Giovinazzi and Meindert van Buuren’s cars stopping on track.

Times were slower in the afternoon session, Gustav Malja led the way ahead of GP3 graduate Jimmy Eriksson and Russian Time driver Artem Markelov.

GP2 testing resumes at Jerez on March 29, with the season not beginning until the Spanish Grand Prix Formula 1 weekend back at Barcelona in mid-May.

MORNING TIMES:

AFTERNOON TIMES:

Gasley quickest again for Prema, Evans 7th & 16th