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Bahrain Formula 2: Renault's Rowland tops first session of new era

Renault Formula 1 development driver Oliver Rowland topped the first Formula 2 practice session of 2017, in scorching temperatures at the Bahrain International Circuit

The British driver came out on top of tight battle for first place, with Russian Time's Artem Markelov and Prema Racing duo Charles Leclerc and Antonio Fuoco all putting in efforts that were just over 0.1s slower than Rowland's best.

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The fastest times of the session were set during the early running on the medium Pirelli tyres, as the drivers encountered high track temperatures of 45C.

That meant the 1m42.221s set by Rowland - whose Renault F1 role was announced on Thursday - was not bettered, with Markelov getting closest, finishing 0.092 seconds adrift.

Norman Nato, winner of the first round of what was then called GP2 in 2016, finished fifth, ahead of Luca Ghiotto and Nyck de Vries, who endured a disrupted session for Rapax.

McLaren F1 junior de Vries spent the first third of the 45-minute session in the pits before he was finally able to put in timed a lap.

He then twice ground to a halt in pitlane before making it back to the Rapax garage, and the 22-year-old's problems eventually forced him to stop at Turn 8, which triggered the virtual safety car with just 12 minutes remaining.

Johnny Cecotto Jr - a veteran of 119 GP2 races - finished eighth fastest for Rapax, with Nobuharu Matsushita and Gustav Malja rounding out the top 10 for ART Grand Prix and Racing Engineering.

Several drivers had off-track moments, particularly at Turn 10, with Rowland, Matsushita and Leclerc among those caught out.

Jordan King finished down in 12th place for MP Motorsport, ahead of Rowland's DAMS team-mate, Nicholas Latifi.

Stefano Coletti, a winner of seven GP2 races, was 16th, and the 2016 Formula V8 and GP3 runners up - Louis Deletraz and Alexander Albon - brought up the rear of the field in 19th and 20th.

PRACTICE TIMES:

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Oliver Rowland DAMS 1m42.221s - 16
2 Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 1m42.313s 0.092s 13
3 Charles Leclerc Prema Racing 1m42.372s 0.151s 15
4 Antonio Fuoco Prema Racing 1m42.381s 0.160s 12
5 Norman Nato Pertamina Arden 1m42.594s 0.373s 13
6 Luca Ghiotto RUSSIAN TIME 1m42.715s 0.494s 14
7 Nyck de Vries Rapax 1m43.052s 0.831s 6
8 Johnny Cecotto Jr. Rapax 1m43.146s 0.925s 16
9 Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1m43.213s 0.992s 15
10 Gustav Malja Racing Engineering 1m43.230s 1.009s 14
11 Sergio Sette Camara MP Motorsport 1m43.260s 1.039s 15
12 Jordan King MP Motorsport 1m43.265s 1.044s 15
13 Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1m43.323s 1.102s 15
14 Sean Gelael Pertamina Arden 1m43.355s 1.134s 13
15 Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 1m43.479s 1.258s 12
16 Stefano Coletti Campos Racing 1m43.632s 1.411s 16
17 Nabil Jeffri Trident 1m43.891s 1.670s 16
18 Sergio Canamasas Trident 1m43.958s 1.737s 15
19 Louis Deletraz Racing Engineering 1m44.016s 1.795s 14
20 Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 1m44.360s 2.139s 15

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