Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Filippi tops first Abu Dhabi test

Luca Filippi set the pace as the GP2 Asia Series staged its first day of pre-season testing at the brand new Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi

The 24-year-old Italian was second quickest in the morning session in his Meritus car, behind Davide Valsecchi.

But he leapt to the top of the standings in the second session, which ended in the dark so that the track lighting system could be tested.

Filippi's pace-setting mark of 1m52.842s was set during the second session as the track, which started the day under a layer of dust, became rubbered-in and the evening temperatures dropped by around 10 degrees.

"I have to say that we are very proud to be the first ones to test on this track, and the first ones to be quickest." said Filippi. "Meritus only does the Asia Series too, so it's a good achievement.

"In terms of layout, there are two great, fast corners. My favourite parts are the first three corners and then the last two. It's where all the fun happens and where you can prove your driver's skills. Overall, it's a really nice circuit."

Second quickest, a little over two tenths of a second slower than Filippi overall, was fellow series veteran Roldan Rodriguez, who was driving for Coloni.

Diego Nunes, in the second Meritus car, was third quickest with Valsecchi and Luiz Razia next up for iSport and Barwa Addax.

Britain's Sam Bird was the best of the rookie drivers in his ART machine, with fellow F3 Euro Series graduates Johnny Cecotto (Trident) and Christian Vietoris (DAMS) next up.

Max Chilton, Will Bratt and James Jakes were 10th, 11th and 19th for Addax, Coloni and Super Nova respectively.

Morning times:

Pos  Driver                  Team                       Time      Laps
 1.  Davide Valsecchi        iSport International       1:57.504   16
 2.  Luca Filippi            Meritus                    1:57.539   17
 3.  Christian Vietoris      DAMS                       1:57.632    8
 4.  Luiz Razia              Barwa Addax Team           1:57.706   17
 5.  Alexander Rossi         Ocean Racing Technology    1:57.877   10
 6.  Diego Nunes             Meritus                    1:57.907   14
 7.  Sam Bird                ART Grand Prix             1:58.087    8
 8.  James Jakes             Super Nova Racing          1:58.577   11
 9.  Johnny Cecotto          Trident Racing             1:59.266   11
10.  Daniel Zampieri         Piquet GP                  1:59.504    8
11.  Max Chilton             Barwa Addax Team           2:00.142   11
12.  Marcus Ericsson         ART Grand Prix             2:00.407    9
13.  Edoardo Piscopo         DAMS                       2:00.782   10
14.  Pablo Sanchez           Arden International        2:01.111    9
15.  Josef Kral              Super Nova Racing          2:01.127    7
16.  Will Bratt              Scuderia Coloni            2:01.308   11
17.  Michael Herck           DPR                        2:01.333   13
18.  Rodolfo Gonzalez        Arden International        2:01.516    7
19.  Fabio Leimer            Ocean Racing Technology    2:01.683    5
20.  Vladimir Arabadzhiev    Piquet GP                  2:03.842    8
21.  Plamen Kralev           Trident Racing             2:04.288   29
22.  Roldan Rodriguez        Scuderia Coloni            no time

Afternoon times:

 1.  Luca Filippi            Meritus                    1:52.842   23
 2.  Roldan Rodriguez        Scuderia Coloni            1:53.091   26
 3.  Diego Nunes             Meritus                    1:53.188   28
 4.  Davide Valsecchi        iSport International       1:53.279   18
 5.  Luiz Razia              Barwa Addax Team           1:53.486   26
 6.  Sam Bird                ART Grand Prix             1:53.572   27
 7.  Johnny Cecotto          Trident Racing             1:53.681   35
 8.  Christian Vietoris      DAMS                       1:53.682   26
 9.  Daniel Zampieri         Piquet GP                  1:53.916   26
10.  Max Chilton             Barwa Addax Team           1:54.022   23
11.  William Bratt           Scuderia Coloni            1:54.060   25
12.  Michael Herck           DPR                        1:54.086   20
13.  Edoardo Piscopo         DAMS                       1:54.297   25
14.  Josef Kral              Super Nova Racing          1:54.494   25
15.  Fabio Leimer            Ocean Racing Technology    1:54.494   20
16.  Alexander Rossi         Ocean Racing Technology    1:54.516   16
17.  Vladimir Arabadzhiev    Piquet GP                  1:54.661   19
18.  Marcus Ericsson         ART Grand Prix             1:54.740   20
19.  James Jakes             Super Nova Racing          1:55.714   16
20.  Rodolfo Gonzalez        Arden International        1:55.758   10
21.  Plamen Kralev           Trident Racing             1:59.411   22
22.  Giacomo Ricci           DPR                        no time          

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Ocean announces Asia line-up
Next article Filippi fastest again at Yas Marina

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe