Valsecchi fastest in Barcelona test
Davide Valsecchi topped the times on the first day of the final pre-season test at Barcelona, ahead of the start of the GP2 Series season in Turkey
The Team AirAsia driver finished as second quickest in the morning session but then raised his pace in the afternoon, finishing the day on top with a best time of 1m29.718s on a sunny day at the Circuit de Catalunya.
In a very close session, Luca Filippi was second fastest for Super Nova, the Italian just 0.025 seconds behind Valsecchi, with Charles Pic - fastest in the morning - less than two tenths behind in the Barwa car.
Lotus ART's Jules Bianchi and Esteban Gutierrez were the only other two men to lap the Spanish track in the 1m29s, with GP2 Asia champion Roman Grosjean completing the top five for DAMS.
Two red flags in the afternoon session interrupted the work of the teams during a mostly trouble-free day.
The test concludes tomorrow.
Morning times Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Charles Pic Barwa Addax Team 1:29.875 31 2. Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:29.915 23 3. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:29.976 25 4. Romain Grosjean Dams 1:30.051 19 5. Sam Bird iSport International 1:30.059 23 6. Max Chilton Carlin 1:30.183 25 7. Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:30.228 27 8. Davide Rigon Scuderia Coloni 1:30.347 21 9. Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:30.364 24 10. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:30.430 19 11. Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:30.450 29 12. Oliver Turvey Carlin 1:30.623 21 13. Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:30.671 19 14. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:30.760 24 15. Johnny Cecotto Ocean Racing Technology 1:30.857 22 16. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1:30.866 26 17. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:30.900 25 18. Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 1:30.924 19 19. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:30.959 18 20. Julian Leal Rapax 1:30.982 26 21. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:31.070 27 22. Josef Kral Arden International 1:31.263 17 23. Pal Varhaug Dams 1:31.322 20 24. Kevin Mirocha Ocean Racing Technology 1:31.531 21 25. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:31.854 21 26. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:32.162 18 Afternoon times Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:29.718 23 2. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:29.743 19 3. Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:29.912 18 4. Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:30.262 28 5. Romain Grosjean Dams 1:30.371 25 6. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:30.402 14 7. Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:30.544 28 8. Max Chilton Carlin 1:30.602 18 9. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:30.780 21 10. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1:30.807 19 11. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:30.825 23 12. Pal Varhaug Dams 1:30.956 28 13. Oliver Turvey Carlin 1:30.956 23 14. Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 1:30.964 19 15. Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:30.982 25 16. Julian Leal Rapax 1:31.125 20 17. Johnny Cecotto Ocean Racing Engineering 1:31.248 20 18. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:31.252 20 19. Kevin Mirocha Ocean Racing Engineering 1:31.311 20 20. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:31.342 19 21. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:31.639 19 22. Sam Bird iSport International 1:31.766 29 23. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:31.921 31 24. Josef Kral Arden International 1:32.366 25 25. Davide Rigon Scuderia Coloni 1:32.900 13 26. Charles Pic Barwa Addax Team 1:33.747 35
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