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Auto GP pleased with new car after test

Auto GP organisers declared the maiden run of its revised 2013 car a success after its first day of testing at Barcelona on Thursday

In addition to the 2013 Auto GP car's raw speed, personnel at car builder's Coloni Motorsport expressed satisfaction with reliability as the new machine completed 42 laps without problem.

"I'm very satisfied with what we saw on track today," said series boss Enzo Coloni. "The 2013 car proved fast, as we expected, and we were able to test different components.

"We will be back developing it tomorrow. As we evaluate the improvement, we must also consider the weather conditions. The cold weather (five degrees) made the track about two seconds slower than usual."

Reigning champion Adrian Quaife-Hobbs set the fastest lap of the day on 1m32.857s, 1.182 seconds quicker than the best time recorded by the outgoing model during Thursday's collective test.

In his first experience of an Auto GP car, former Formula Renault 3.5 racer Vittorio Ghirelli was quickest among drivers in 2012-spec machinery during the collective test.

Virtuosi UK, which ran Pal Varhaug to the runner-up position in the 2012 series, assisted experienced Formula 3 man Andrea Roda in adapting to the additional horsepower of Auto GP machinery.

Antonio Spavone will aim for an improved showing on Friday, after suffering fatigue in the latter stages of the afternoon. The Italian arrived at Barcelona extremely late on Wednesday after his flight from Britain was delayed by snowfall.

Italian Formula Renault Challenge driver Luca Defendi will conclude his inaugural Auto GP test with Ombra on Friday.

Giuseppe Cipriani and Nicola de Marco suffered off-track excursions, while Auto GP newcomer Team Ghinzani will prepare a car for its 2012 Formula 3 driver Kevin Giovesi on Friday.

Pos  Driver               Team              Time       Gap
 1.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs  Auto GP 2013 car  1m32.857s
 2.  Vittorio Ghirelli    Super Nova        1m34.039s  + 1.182s
 3.  Daniel de Jong       Manor MP          1m34.086s  + 1.229s
 4.  Sergio Campana       Zele              1m34.972s  + 2.115s
 5.  Kimiya Sato          Euronova          1m35.406s  + 2.549s
 6.  Rodolfo Gonzalez     Manor MP          1m35.406s  + 2.549s
 7.  Giacomo Ricci        MLR 71            1m35.610s  + 2.753s
 8.  Andrea Roda          Virtuosi UK       1m35.692s  + 2.835s
 9.  Antonio Spavone      Super Nova        1m36.155s  + 3.298s
10.  Yoshitaka Kuroda     Euronova          1m36.332s  + 3.475s
11.  Luca Defendi         Ombra             1m36.631s  + 3.774s
12.  Giuseppe Cipriani    Zele              1m36.699s  + 3.842s
13.  Nicola de Marco      Ghinzani          1m38.293s  + 5.436s
14.  Michele la Rosa      MLR 71            1m40.267s  + 7.410s

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