Vietoris on top in GP2 practice
Christian Vietoris set the fastest time in the final seconds of GP2 free practice at Istanbul Park on Friday
The German was expected to be at a disadvantage at the start of this season, because he was the only frontrunner to skip the two Asia series rounds earlier this year.
He has also had to settle back into GP2 after making his DTM debut for Mercedes at Hockenheim last week, but he proved that none of those factors have held him back by knocking Romain Grosjean off top spot in the final seconds of the session.
Track conditions improved vastly in comparison to the first Formula 1 free practice session that preceded the GP2 cars going out. But it was still treacherous in the early minutes of the session, and just six minutes in Esteban Gutierrez brought out the red flags with a carbon copy of Sebastian Vettel's crash on the exit of Turn 8.
The Mexican's ART team-mate Jules Bianchi then made the same error, but his contact with the wall on the inside was only slight, and he only had to spend four minutes in the pits before returning to the track to go second fastest at the time.
Grosjean had set the pace for much of the session, as he clearly pushed harder than his rivals in the early running. But as the standing water on track started to clear everybody began to improve their laptimes.
Giedo van der Garde went fastest with eight minutes remaining, and he held on to that until the final minute as yellow flags were out while marshals tried to push Dani Clos's car out of the grass after the Racing Engineering driver spun coming out of Turn 8.
When the track was clear again, Grosjean responded to take first place back at the end, but just seconds later Vietoris (Racing Engineering) came across the line to go 0.2 seconds quicker.
Van der Garde had to settle for third ahead of a relieved Bianchi, while a late effort from Max Chilton put him into the top five.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1m43.399s 2. Romain Grosjean DAMS 1m43.618s + 0.219s 3. Giedo van der Garde Addax 1m43.992s + 0.593s 4. Jules Bianchi ART 1m44.697s + 1.298s 5. Max Chilton Carlin 1m44.745s + 1.346s 6. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1m44.811s + 1.412s 7. Stefano Coletti Trident 1m45.066s + 1.667s 8. Luca Filippi Super Nova 1m45.135s + 1.736s 9. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1m45.281s + 1.882s 10. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m45.354s + 1.955s 11. Davide Rigon Coloni 1m45.601s + 2.202s 12. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova 1m45.744s + 2.345s 13. Johnny Cecotto Ocean 1m45.770s + 2.371s 14. Sam Bird iSport 1m45.864s + 2.465s 15. Luiz Razia AirAsia 1m45.888s + 2.489s 16. Mikhail Aleshin Carlin 1m45.932s + 2.533s 17. Kevin Mirocha Ocean 1m46.034s + 2.635s 18. Josef Kral Arden 1m46.202s + 2.803s 19. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m46.420s + 3.021s 20. Michael Herck Coloni 1m46.493s + 3.094s 21. Pal Varhaug DAMS 1m46.641s + 3.242s 22. Charles Pic Addax 1m46.991s + 3.592s 23. Davide Valsecchi AirAsia 1m47.015s + 3.616s 24. Jolyon Palmer Arden 1m47.269s + 3.870s 25. Julian Leal Rapax 1m47.608s + 4.209s 26. Esteban Gutierrez ART 1m49.251s + 5.852s
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