Maldonado fastest in first practice
Pastor Maldonado delivered on his reputation as a street race specialist by dominating today's opening GP2 practice session in Monaco
The Rapax driver topped the times with a best lap of 1m20.476s, which not only put him 0.441s clear of nearest rival Sergio Perez's Barwa Addax car, but would also have put him ahead of three cars in this morning's first F1 practice session.
Racing Engineering's Christian Vietoris finished third fastest ahead of team-mate Dani Clos, with reigning GP2 Asia Series chanmpion Davide Valsecchi (iSport) and Addax's Giedo van der Garde another couple of tenths further back.
The session passed almost without incident, with Coloni's Vladimir Arabadzhiev being the only driver to take an early shower after clipping the barriers with eight minutes remaining, although Ocean Racing's Max Chilton had cause to be thankful for the escape road at Turn 1 after locking up badly and overshooting the corner late in the session.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Pastor Maldonado Rapax 1m20.476s 2. Sergio Perez Barwa Addax 1m20.917s + 0.441s 3. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1m20.999s + 0.523s 4. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1m21.272s + 0.796s 5. Davide Valsecchi iSport 1m21.531s + 1.055s 6. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax 1m21.540s + 1.064s 7. Jules Bianchi ART 1m22.036s + 1.560s 8. Luiz Razia Rapax 1m22.096s + 1.620s 9. Oliver Turvey iSport 1m22.132s + 1.656s 10. Fabio Leimer Ocean 1m22.164s + 1.688s 11. Alberto Valerio Coloni 1m22.165s + 1.689s 12. Jerome D'Ambrosio DAMS 1m22.288s + 1.812s 13. Michael Herck DPR 1m22.327s + 1.851s 14. Johnny Cecotto Trident 1m22.399s + 1.923s 15. Sam Bird ART 1m22.503s + 2.027s 16. Max Chilton Ocean 1m22.576s + 2.100s 17. Ho-Pin Tung DAMS 1m22.578s + 2.102s 18. Giacomo Ricci DPR 1m22.622s + 2.146s 19. Marcus Ericsson Super Nova 1m23.059s + 2.583s 20. Charles Pic Arden 1m23.246s + 2.770s 21. Josef Kral Super Nova 1m23.657s + 3.181s 22. Rodolfo Gonzalez Arden 1m23.907s + 3.431s 23. Adrian Zaugg Trident 1m24.249s + 3.773s 24. Vlado Arabadjiev Coloni 1m24.770s + 4.294s
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