Pantano Quickest in Practice
Giorgio Pantano set the fastest lap in free practice at the Hungaroring, ahead of Alex Premat and Adam Carroll, with the Super Nova team striking an early blow against their competitors in Budapest
Pantano set his fastest lap early in the session, stopping the clock at 1:34.555, with fellow ex-Formula One driver Gimmi Bruni running second fastest for much of the half hour on track.
It was clear to see that experience was invaluable, but as the laps rolled down the newer drivers started to make their mark - in the final five minutes Carroll, Nico Rosberg, Alex Premat and Heikki Kovalainen all found their way into the top five.
Premat was the fastest of the non-Formula One drivers, finishing his last lap just three tenths off the pace of Pantano, who ran surprisingly few laps in the session.
At the thirty minute mark the times reflected the usual form for GP2 - the top ten were split by just one second, with another second covering the fastest nineteen drivers.
There were few spins in the session, and none which required major work on the cars - Clivio Piccione spun harmlessly at the start of the session and Fairuz Fauzy hit the barrier and lost his front wing, while Neel Jani and Adam Carroll spun off looking for the limit in the final two minutes.
New driver Giorgio Mondini managed to keep his car intact as he was learning both the circuit and his new working environment, but predictably he was at the bottom of the timesheets, some 5.5 seconds off Pantano's pace.Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Pantano Super Nova International 1:34.555 10
2. Premat ART Grand Prix 1:34.920 + 0.365 15
3. Carroll Super Nova International 1:35.007 + 0.452 14
4. Kovalainen Arden International 1:35.015 + 0.460 13
5. Rosberg ART Grand Prix 1:35.025 + 0.470 15
6. Piccione Durango 1:35.225 + 0.670 14
7. Bruni Coloni Motorsport 1:35.248 + 0.693 13
8. Lopez DAMS 1:35.273 + 0.718 11
9. Viso Ven BCN Competicion 1:35.338 + 0.783 14
10. Yoshimoto BCN Competicion 1:35.397 + 0.842 15
11. Speed iSport International 1:35.571 + 1.016 13
12. Lapierre Arden International 1:35.578 + 1.023 14
13. Jani Racing Engineering 1:35.668 + 1.113 14
14. Pla DPR 1:35.688 + 1.133 13
15. Piquet Jr. Hitech Piquet Sports 1:35.724 + 1.169 14
16. Hernandez Campos Racing 1:36.134 + 1.579 13
17. Garcia Racing Engineering 1:36.236 + 1.681 14
18. Monfardini Durango 1:36.401 + 1.846 12
19. Alvarez Campos Racing 1:36.476 + 1.921 12
20. Artam iSport International 1:36.806 + 2.251 13
21. Negrao Hitech Piquet Sports 1:37.299 + 2.744 12
22. Lauda Coloni Motorsport 1:37.423 + 2.868 13
23. Fauzy DAMS 1:39.307 + 4.752 3
24. Mondini DPR 1:40.062 + 5.507 11
All Timing Unofficial
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