Pulling sweeps Day 1 of running in Abu Dhabi test

Standings leader Abbi Pulling was in fine form on the opening day of in-season testing in Abu Dhabi, topping the timesheets across both sessions.

On her first visit to the Yas Marina Circuit, the Alpine driver secured the quickest effort of the morning and continued that form into the afternoon. Posting the fastest lap of the day late thanks to a time of 1:56.505, she led Mercedes’ Doriane Pin by 0.370s.

MORNING

It was a leisurely start to the morning’s session, with Bianca Bustamante getting the first time of the day on the board on a 2:19.786.

The circuit began to liven up towards the end of first hour as the MP Motorsport trio headed out. Hamda Al Qubaisi became the early pacesetter on a 1:59.770 and continued to lower the benchmark to a 1:57.692 — 0.489s ahead of Amna Al Qubaisi.

Pin reduced the gap up to just over three tenths, before Pulling joined Hamda Al Qubaisi inside the 1:57s and closed in to half a tenth off the Emirati driver’s effort. As the one hour to go mark approached, Pulling moved up into P1 by six thousandths, setting a 1:57.630.

After a brief lull, the action ramped back up as the focus shifted to long runs. However, Pulling’s hold on the top sport remained untroubled to the chequered flag.

Hamda Al Qubaisi ended the opening session in second with 29 laps on the board, tied for the most with teammate Amna Al Qubaisi. Pin finished third, two tenths off the pace, whilst a late improvement from Maya Weug moved the Ferrari driver up into fourth.

Chloe Chambers secured the fifth-fastest time on a 1:58.129, ahead of Campos Racing teammate Carrie Schreiner and Amna Al Qubaisi. Two tenths covered the tail end of the top 10 with Bianca Bustamante in eighth ahead of Lia Block and Jessica Edgar.

AFTERNOON

PREMA kicked off the second half of Day 1’s running, as Pin set the early benchmark time of a 1:59.181. Further improvements saw her complete a lap of 1:58.088 to remain fastest, whilst Pulling went up into second, but was over four tenths down.

Pin’s hold on the top spot was interrupted momentarily when Pulling’s 1:57.818 eclipsed the Mercedes driver’s time by two tenths. However, she soon returned to the top spot, setting a 1:57.174 to go fastest and then lowering the time to beat to a 1:57.126, 0.398s ahead of Weug.

Bustamante moved up the order into second but was quickly demoted by Block in the #57 ART car, who closed to within eight thousandths of Pin. It wouldn’t be long before Pin clocked another personal best on a 1:56.875 to go over three tenths clear of Block.

A last gasp flurry of action inside the final 30 minutes saw Chambers and Hamda Al Qubaisi take turns in the P2 slot. Yet it was Pulling who topped the timesheets, setting a 1:56.505 to end the day fastest.

Pin had to settle for second — 0.370s adrift of the Briton but managed to stay ahead of Hamda Al Qubaisi by three thousandths. Chambers was fourth ahead of Block, Nerea Martí, Bustamante, Weug, Edgar and Red Bull Ford’s Emely De Heus rounded out the top 10.

Running will resume for Day 2 at 10:00 local time (GMT+4), with another six hours of track time available tomorrow.