Van der Garde tops another WSR test

The Dutchman moved ahead of Marco Barba at the top of the time sheets with seven minutes of the four-hour session remaining. The field was denied a final opportunity to improve on the P1 Motorsport driver's time when Van der Garde brought out the red flags after losing control at the uphill, left-hand, Turn Four.

Barba, the runner-up in last year's Spanish F3 championship, led honours among the seven-strong contingent of Spanish drivers. Pons driver Marcos Martinez was third fastest for Pons Racing, ahead of Canadian Robert Wickens and Borja Garcia.

Wickens may cut short his driving tomorrow afternoon in order to attend the A1GP race in China.

Only 25 drivers participated in the test, as Fortec Motorsport continue to negotiate with drivers for their vacant second seat, the last remaining on the Renault 3.5 grid.

James Walker pressed ahead with their development programme and finished the session in eighth place. He will be joined in the team by German Julian Theobald on Thursday, after plans to run GP2 pilot Roldan Rodriguez fell through.

Yesterday's pace setter Marco Bonanomi had a troubled morning, completing just five laps before being halted by a drive-shaft failure. The Italian faired better than Epsilon Euskadi's Brazilian newcomer Mario Romancini, though. He fell foul of the wet conditions at the final corner and damaged his car before he could set a competitive time.

Many drivers opted not to venture out in the damp early laps, as a new specification Michelin wet tyre is set to be introduced for the first race at Monza.

Fabio Carbone was finally able to make some progress with new team Ultimate-Signature, having endured an oil leak and fire on Tuesday, and a broken clutch after just two laps this morning. The Brazilian succeeded in briefly holding the fastest time, before slipping to 10th.

Pos Driver                Team                 Time      Gap     Laps
 1. Giedo van der Garde   P1 Motorsport        1:34.958            13
 2. Marco Barba           Draco Racing         1:35.387  +0.429    23
 3. Marcos Martinez       Pons Racing          1:35.412  +0.454    26
 4. Robert Wickens        Carlin Motorsport    1:35.506  +0.548    10
 5. Borja Garcia          RC Motorsport        1:35.719  +0.761    27
 6. Alvaro Barba          Prema Powerteam      1:35.720  +0.762    46
 7. Mikhail Aleshin       Carlin Motorsport    1:35.765  +0.807    10
 8. James Walker          Fortec Motorsport    1:35.926  +0.968    23
 9. Pablo Sanchez         Interwetten          1:36.104  +1.146    41
10. Fabio Carbone         Ultimate-Signature   1:36.503  +1.545    21
11. Maximo Cortes         Pons Racing          1:36.936  +1.978    21
12. Alexandre Marsoin     Epsilon Euskadi      1:37.070  +2.112    39
13. Charles Pic           Tech 1               1:37.091  +2.133     7
14. Pippa Mann            P1 Motorsport        1:37.176  +2.218    17
15. Claudio Cantelli      Ultimate-Signature   1.37.190  +2.232    44
16. Miguel Molina         Prema Powerteam      1:37.373  +2.415    34
17. Aleix Alcaraz         RC Motorsport        1:38.017  +3.059    42
18. Pasquale di Sabatino  Red Devil Comtec     1:38.141  +3.183    39
19. Guillaume Moreau      KTR                  1:38.236  +3.278     9
20. Daniil Move           KTR                  1:39.018  +4.060     8
21. Julien Jousse         Tech 1               1:44.055  +9.097     5
22. Salvador Duran        Interwetten          1:56.217  +21.259   16
23. Bertrand Baguette     Draco Racing         1:57.858  +22.900    9
24. Mario Romancini       Epsilon Euskadi      2:00.344  +25.386    7