Fabrizio Crestani tops Barcelona GP2 test for new team Lazarus
Fabrizio Crestani set a surprise fastest time for GP2 newcomer Lazarus on day one of this week's Catalunya test
The Auto GP graduate lapped in 1m29.420s in the morning session, and his time stood as the quickest of the day. Max Chilton was fastest for Carlin in the slightly slower afternoon session.
iSport's Jolyon Palmer was Crestani's closest challenger in the morning, 0.2 seconds behind, and ahead of Stephane Richelmi (Trident), Rio Haryanto (Carlin) and Stefano Coletti (Coloni).
Trident's Julian Leal got within 0.015s of Chilton in the afternoon, with Marcus Ericsson third for iSport, and Coletti next up ahead of James Calado (Lotus).
Last week's Jerez pacesetter Davide Valsecchi was sixth and seventh in the two sessions for DAMS.
Valsecchi's team-mate Felipe Nasr caused one of three stoppages when he went into the gravel this afternoon. The morning had ended slightly early when both recent Racing Engineering re-signing Nathanael Berthon and Leal stopped on course, while the afternoon's second red flag came when Fabio Onidi spun his Coloni car.
Lazarus tried Venezuela's Giancarlo Serenelli in its second car today, while Rapax - which has yet to confirm any drivers for 2012 - ran GP2 returnee Ricardo Teixeira and former Formula Renault 3.5 driver Sergio Canamasas.
Jon Lancaster confirmed a deal with Ocean today, and joined the field for the afternoon, when he was 18th.
Arden's Luiz Razia sat out the sessions due to illness.
Morning session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Fabrizio Crestani Lazarus 1m29.420s 2. Jolyon Palmer iSport 1m29.645s + 0.225s 3. Stephane Richelmi Trident 1m29.658s + 0.238s 4. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1m29.673s + 0.253s 5. Stefano Coletti Coloni 1m29.713s + 0.293s 6. Davide Valsecchi DAMS 1m29.726s + 0.306s 7. Julian Leal Trident 1m29.743s + 0.323s 8. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m29.750s + 0.330s 9. Max Chilton Carlin 1m29.774s + 0.354s 10. Simon Trummer Arden 1m29.892s + 0.472s 11. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus 1m29.932s + 0.512s 12. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m29.994s + 0.574s 13. James Calado Lotus 1m30.245s + 0.825s 14. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m30.356s + 0.936s 15. Fabio Onidi Coloni 1m30.366s + 0.946s 16. Nigel Melker Ocean 1m30.703s + 1.283s 17. Johnny Cecotto Addax 1m30.726s + 1.306s 18. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1m30.861s + 1.441s 19. Felipe Nasr DAMS 1m30.907s + 1.487s 20. Josef Kral Addax 1m31.606s + 2.186s 21. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham 1m32.472s + 3.052s 22. Sergio Canamasas Rapax 1m32.662s + 3.242s 23. Ricardo Teixeira Rapax 1m33.189s + 3.769s 24. Giancarlo Serenelli Lazarus 1m35.588s + 6.168s Afternoon session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Max Chilton Carlin 1m29.479s 2. Julian Leal Trident 1m29.494s + 0.015s 3. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m29.605s + 0.126s 4. Stefano Coletti Coloni 1m29.687s + 0.208s 5. James Calado Lotus 1m29.740s + 0.261s 6. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m29.769s + 0.290s 7. Davide Valsecchi DAMS 1m29.877s + 0.398s 8. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus 1m29.902s + 0.423s 9. Johnny Cecotto Addax 1m29.947s + 0.468s 10. Simon Trummer Arden 1m29.980s + 0.501s 11. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1m30.014s + 0.535s 12. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m30.053s + 0.574s 13. Fabio Onidi Coloni 1m30.311s + 0.832s 14. Jolyon Palmer iSport 1m30.323s + 0.844s 15. Felipe Nasr DAMS 1m30.393s + 0.914s 16. Stephane Richelmi Trident 1m30.577s + 1.098s 17. Nigel Melker Ocean 1m30.603s + 1.124s 18. Jon Lancaster Ocean 1m30.715s + 1.236s 19. Sergio Canamasas Rapax 1m31.468s + 1.989s 20. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1m31.646s + 2.167s 21. Josef Kral Addax 1m31.696s + 2.217s 22. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham 1m31.967s + 2.488s 23. Ricardo Teixeira Rapax 1m32.613s + 3.134s 24. Fabrizio Crestani Lazarus 1m33.456s + 3.977s 25. Giancarlo Serenelli Lazarus 1m35.420s + 5.941s
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