Leimer completes impressive post-season form by topping final test at Barcelona
Fabio Leimer rounded out his impressive GP2 post-season form by topping the final day of testing at Barcelona
Having also set the pace on both days of testing at Jerez - again with the Racing Engineering squad - Leimer has therefore failed to top only one of the four days of post-season testing.
The 22-year-old, a racewinner with the Rapax squad this year, set the early running before the session was halted following Kevin Magnussen's foray into the gravel at Turn 5.
The pace quickened when the session resumed, but Leimer was once again on top and his 1m29.324s proved too good for the rest of the field - and also the perfect preparation ahead of his test with the Sauber F1 team at Abu Dhabi on 15-17 November.
Sam Bird, on duty with Trident Racing, finished more than 0.2s down the road in second, ahead of Esteban Gutierrez (Lotus ART) and Magnussen (Carlin), who recovered from his trip into the gravel to set the fourth fastest time.
Fifth and sixth went to Scuderia Coloni's Stefano Coletti and Kevin Ceccon, who finished within two hundredths of a second of each other.
As was the case yesterday the afternoon session proved markedly slower. Coletti, a double racewinner for Trident in 2011, was fastest but his time was almost one second off his morning benchmark and even further off Leimer's overall best.
Alexander Rossi, eighth in the morning, was second fastest in the afternoon for Caterham team AirAsia, ahead of Nathanael Berthon (Racing Engineering) and Brendon Hartley (Ocean Racing).
Morning times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1:29.324 30 2. Sam Bird Trident Racing 1:29.549 20 3. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:29.588 34 4. Kevin Magnussen Carlin 1:29.697 27 5. Stefano Coletti Scuderia Coloni 1:29.736 25 6. Kevin Ceccon Scuderia Coloni 1:29.753 24 7. Antonio Felix Da Costa Ocean Racing Technology 1:29.758 27 8. Alexander Rossi Caterham Team AirAsia 1:29.808 20 9. Rio Haryanto Dams 1:29.827 36 10. Julian Leal Rapax 1:29.851 29 11. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1:29.916 36 12. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1:29.931 18 13. Josef Kral Barwa Addax Team 1:30.024 33 14. Stephane Richelmi Trident Racing 1:30.025 38 15. Simon Trummer Arden International 1:30.219 30 16. Brendon Hartley Ocean Racing Technology 1:30.268 31 17. Nigel Melker iSport International 1:30.276 24 18. James Calado Lotus ART 1:30.308 28 19. Craig Dolby Arden International 1:30.374 21 20. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Dams 1:30.446 36 21. Jakes Rosenzweig Barwa Addax Team 1:30.603 34 22. Albert Costa Super Nova Racing 1:30.604 35 23. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham Team AirAsia 1:30.944 35 24. Fabio Onidi Rapax 1:30.998 30 25. Giacomo Ricci Super Nova Racing 1:31.031 26 26. Kuba Giermaziak iSport International 1:31.043 24
Afternoon times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Stefano Coletti Scuderia Coloni 1:30.607 21 2. Alexander Rossi Caterham Team AirAsia 1:30.749 53 3. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1:31.023 18 4. Brendon Hartley Ocean Racing Technology 1:31.075 28 5. Jake Rosenzweig Barwa Addax Team 1:31.088 34 6. Antonio Felix Da Costa Ocean Racing Technology 1:31.093 37 7. Fabio Onidi Rapax 1:31.116 36 8. Nigel Melker iSport International 1:31.131 37 9. Julian Leal Rapax 1:31.221 20 10. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1:31.274 35 11. Giacomo Ricci Super Nova Racing 1:31.281 21 12. Josef Kral Barwa Addax Team 1:31.411 32 13. Kevin Magnussen Carlin 1:31.562 14 14. Albert Costa Super Nova Racing 1:31.650 21 15. Kevin Ceccon Scuderia Coloni 1:31.697 33 16. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Dams 1:31.698 34 17. Kuba Giermaziak iSport International 1:31.933 34 18. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1:31.984 36 19. Craig Dolby Arden International 1:32.282 30 20. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham Team AirAsia 1:32.282 32 21. Sam Bird Trident Racing 1:32.324 32 22. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:33.270 36 23. Rio Haryanto Dams 1:33.485 42 24. James Calado Lotus ART 1:33.655 45 25. Stephane Richelmi Trident Racing 1:34.242 35 26. Simon Trummer Arden International 1:35.083 46
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
Why Alpine’s rigorous training camp yields telling insights into its juniors
Can F2's relaxed title favourite prove a point to Alpine?
Why F1's junior logjam isn't entirely a product of current issues
Inside the racing university moulding F1 drivers and engineers alike
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments