Davide Valsecchi leads first GP2 test day for DAMS
Former GP2 Asia champion Davide Valsecchi topped the opening GP2 test of the year at Jerez today
Over the winter the Italian moved from the former AirAsia (now Caterham) squad to the DAMS team that took Romain Grosjean to the 2011 crown. Valsecchi set a 1m26.014s lap in the morning session, which stood as the best of the day.
GP2 newcomer Fabio Onidi made a strong start for Coloni with second place, 0.2 seconds down on Valsecci, and ahead of iSport duo Jolyon Palmer and Marcus Ericsson, and Lotus team-mates Esteban Gutierrez and James Calado.
Ericsson led the Lotus duo in the slower afternoon session, with Fabio Leimer (Racing Engineering) and Stephane Richelmi (Trident) completing the top five. Valsecchi was seventh.
The new Lazarus team got up to 14th with signed driver Fabrizio Crestani in the afternoon. Vittorio Ghirelli was driving its other car today and caused a brief red flag when he stopped on track in the second session. Tom Dillmann prompted a stoppage in the morning when he crashed his Ocean machine.
Morning session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Davide Valsecchi DAMS 1m26.014s 2. Fabio Onidi Coloni 1m26.217s + 0.203s 3. Jolyon Palmer iSport 1m26.219s + 0.205s 4. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m26.266s + 0.252s 5. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus 1m26.408s + 0.394s 6. James Calado Lotus 1m26.649s + 0.635s 7. Stéphane Richelmi Trident 1m26.888s + 0.874s 8. Stefano Coletti Coletti 1m26.891s + 0.877s 9. Dani Clos Rapax 1m26.944s + 0.930s 10. Nigel Melker Ocean 1m26.944s + 0.930s 11. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham 1m26.971s + 0.957s 12. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m26.990s + 0.976s 13. Johnny Cecotto Addax 1m27.013s + 0.999s 14. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m27.124s + 1.110s 15. Max Chilton Carlin 1m27.187s + 1.173s 16. Simon Trummer Arden 1m27.408s + 1.394s 17. Luiz Razia Arden 1m27.437s + 1.423s 18. Josef Kral Addax 1m27.519s + 1.505s 19. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1m27.842s + 1.828s 20. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1m27.917s + 1.903s 21. Julian Leal Trident 1m28.018s + 2.004s 22. Felipe Nasr DAMS 1m28.076s + 2.062s 23. Fabrizio Crestani Lazarus 1m28.385s + 2.371s 24. Daniel De Jong Rapax 1m28.438s + 2.424s 25. Tom Dillmann Ocean 1m28.985s + 2.971s 26. Vittorio Ghirelli Lazarus 1m29.642s + 3.628s Afternoon session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m26.407s 2. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus 1m26.496s + 0.089s 3. James Calado Lotus 1m26.586s + 0.179s 4. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m26.776s + 0.369s 5. Stéphane Richelmi Trident 1m27.017s + 0.610s 6. Johnny Cecotto Addax 1m27.138s + 0.731s 7. Davide Valsecchi DAMS 1m27.179s + 0.772s 8. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1m27.205s + 0.798s 9. Josef Kral Addax 1m27.236s + 0.829s 10. Max Chilton Carlin 1m27.237s + 0.830s 11. Nigel Melker Ocean 1m27.238s + 0.831s 12. Dani Clos Rapax 1m27.243s + 0.836s 13. Jolyon Palmer iSport 1m27.253s + 0.846s 14. Fabrizio Crestani Lazarus 1m27.496s + 1.089s 15. Stefano Coletti Coloni 1m27.543s + 1.136s 16. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1m27.580s + 1.173s 17. Julian Leal Trident 1m27.799s + 1.392s 18. Simon Trummer Arden 1m27.838s + 1.431s 19. Luiz Razia Arden 1m27.867s + 1.460s 20. Tom Dillmann Ocean 1m27.871s + 1.464s 21. Daniel de Jong Rapax 1m27.914s + 1.507s 22. Felipe Nasr DAMS 1m28.096s + 1.689s 23. Vittorio Ghirelli Lazarus 1m29.117s + 2.710s 24. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m29.472s + 3.065s 25. Fabio Onidi Coloni 1m29.492s + 3.085s 26. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham 1m31.159s + 4.752s
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