Filippi tops Abu Dhabi practice

On a circuit initially covered in dust following an earlier sandstorm, Meritus driver Filippi came through to snatch the top spot from championship leader Davide Valsecchi (iSport) in the closing seconds. Filippi's session was not flawless however, as it included a collision with Valsecchi's iSport team-mate Oliver Turvey.

Sam Bird took third for ART, with his new team-mate - and Formula 3 Euro Series champion - Jules Bianchi seventh in his first official GP2 session.

Arden's Charles Pic was fourth, having mounted a strong challenge before spinning at the final corner of his last lap.

Addax returnee Sergio Perez and Ocean's Fabio Leimer completed the top six.

The session was delayed by 20 minutes early on when Coloni's Alberto Valerio spun into a barrier and left the marshals struggling to dislodge his car.

Practice took place at dusk, with qualifying set to run under lights at 8.30pm local time tonight.

Pos  Driver                Team        Time       Gap
 1.  Luca Filippi          Meritus     1m54.146s
 2.  Davide Valsecchi      iSport      1m54.431s  + 0.285
 3.  Sam Bird              ART         1m54.775s  + 0.629
 4.  Charles Pic           Arden       1m54.803s  + 0.657
 5.  Sergio Perez          Addax       1m54.824s  + 0.678
 6.  Fabio Leimer          Ocean       1m54.904s  + 0.758
 7.  Jules Bianchi         ART         1m54.971s  + 0.825
 8.  Alexander Rossi       Meritus     1m55.077s  + 0.931
 9.  Giedo van der Garde   Addax       1m55.102s  + 0.956
10.  Giacomo Ricci         DPR         1m55.107s  + 0.961
11.  Edoardo Piscopo       DAMS        1m55.172s  + 1.026
12.  Josef Kral            Super Nova  1m55.222s  + 1.076
13.  Javier Villa          Arden       1m55.347s  + 1.201
14.  Oliver Turvey         iSport      1m55.481s  + 1.335
15.  Christian Vietoris    DAMS        1m55.563s  + 1.417
16.  Michael Herck         DPR         1m55.821s  + 1.675
17.  Marcus Ericsson       Super Nova  1m55.971s  + 1.825
18.  Dani Clos             Trident     1m56.295s  + 2.149
19.  Max Chilton           Ocean       1m56.308s  + 2.162
20.  Vladimir Arabadzhiev  Rapax       1m56.330s  + 2.184
21.  Daniel Zampieri       Rapax       1m56.646s  + 2.500
22.  Will Bratt            Coloni      1m56.659s  + 2.513
23.  Plamen Kralev         Trident     1m59.971s  + 5.825
24.  Alberto Valerio       Coloni