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The inaugural Practice session at the Sochi Autodrom took place under gloriously sunny skies and around the 2014 Winter Olympic venues.
Each and every driver took to the track at the first opportunity to see what the Russian circuit had to offer. Jolyon Palmer set a blistering initial pace which was untouched by his rivals. 1:48.846 was the DAMS driver's first lap time and it put him more than one second ahead of Sergio Canamasas and the other 24 men.
Tio Ellinas was already showing his worth on his return to the Series with early lap times good enough to settle within the top ten. The Cypriot driver ended his first session in GP2 since June in tenth place.
The 45 minute session was heading towards half distance when Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne moved up into the top spot. Felipe Nasr – having struggled with grip in the early stages – cemented his authority in the top three alongside Vandoorne and Palmer. The Brazilian got too optimistic on the brakes soon after and almost speared into the back of Sergio Canamasas at the second corner.
The aforementioned second corner was catching a lot of drivers out. Felipe Nasr, Johnny Cecotto, Mitch Evans and Simon Trummer all suffered big lock ups into the hard braking area and damaged their tyres and lap times.
In the closing minutes of the session Arthur Pic exploited the extra grip laid down on the track and moved into P1. His lap time stood for a few seconds until Jolyon Palmer spoilt the Frenchman's show and took top spot by a mind blowing half a second.
Position Driver Team Gap
1 Palmer DAMS 1:46.083
2 Pic Campos Racing 0.535
3 Negrão Arden International 0.540
4 Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 0.657
5 Evans RT RUSSIAN TIME 0.680
6 Sato Campos Racing 0.698
7 Cecotto Trident 0.806
8 Berthon Venezuela GP Lazarus 0.944
9 Nasr Carlin 1.040
10 Ellinas Rapax 1.276
11 Lancaster Hilmer Motorsport 1.311
12 Haryanto Caterham Racing 1.369
13 Izawa ART Grand Prix 1.391
14 Marciello Racing Engineering 1.506
15 Coletti Racing Engineering 1.584
16 Sørensen MP Motorsport 1.589
17 Gasly Caterham Racing 1.619
18 Canamasas Trident 1.774
19 Abt Hilmer Motorsport 1.779
20 Richelmi DAMS 1.799
21 Trummer Rapax 1.820
22 Binder Arden International 1.882
23 De Jong MP Motorsport 2.193
24 Leal Carlin 2.425
25 Campana Venezuela GP Lazarus 2.540
26 Markelov RT RUSSIAN TIME 2.624
Report by Callum Rowe
